As President Obama addresses the nation regarding the end of combat operations in Iraq this evening, you can catch the speech in its entirety as it streams live on Hulu. The stream — available internationally — is expected to begin at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. While the address is in progress, you can initiate the live stream from the Featured Content section of the Hulu home page or watch here on the Hulu Blog.
Hulu’s live stream of the presidential address can be embedded on your website or blog — simply grab the embed code provided in the countdown player below.
When Hulu spoke to Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto about the band’s latest video last week, he was calling from the beach in Tel Aviv, where he and the rest of his band were set to play another show on their world tour. By now, 30STM has played in more than 100 cities across the globe, hitting Europe, Sydney, Singapore and Japan in just the past few weeks. (It’s been so many, Leto’s lost count himself.)
Of course, the band isn’t adverse to travel. After all, many of their previous videos were shot in exotic locales, including China (“From Yesterday“) and even the Arctic (“A Beautiful Lie“). Their last video, “Kings and Queens,” however, was shot in their hometown of Los Angeles, with Leto calling it his “love letter to the city of Angels.”
Although their latest video, “Closer to the Edge,” isn’t as cinematic in scope, it was an epic undertaking, a video documentation of their “adventure around the world,” says Leto, who rocked a pink Mohawk in this video (it long gone now). And while some so-called “road videos” may depict the highs and lows that come with life on tour, “Closer to the Edge” is all about the fans as real kids talk to the cameras. “I picked people out at different shows,” Leto says. “I have 20 to 30 hours of interviews and filtered it down to make this video.” The singer teamed up with a group of five video editors and a pair of cameramen to piece together the video on what they called the “edit bus.” “We’d shoot days and work all night, until 5, 6, 7 in the morning. It was inspiring,” he says.
As for the song’s success, it’s been a bit of a surprise for Leto and his bandmates. “It seems that it has connected with our fans, and the fact that it managed to push “This Is War” to the top of the iTunes charts in Germany — knocking out Eminem, in fact — is just another thing for this modest band to be grateful for.
The band’s tour continues overseas for a few more weeks, then it’s off to Mexico before kicking off their U.S. tour and making an appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards next month, where Leto and his bandmates are nominated for four “Moonman” statues. “We’re happy to be nominated. We found out in New Zealand and it was such a surprise. Winning would be one of those great moments for us as a band. These awards are really just a way to take it all in and show our gratitude to our fans.” — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor
When The Office star John Krasinski set out to make a film adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, he needed a way to connect the separate stories of the sometimes heinous characters that make up Wallace’s book. The actor-turned-director’s solution? A female grad student who interviews each of the men as part of a thesis project. While Krasinski used his personal network to track down the actors who portray the emotionally detached subjects of “Sara Quinn’s” study, he had one actress in mind for the role of the grad student as he penned his script: Julianne Nicholson, who was starring as Det. Megan Wheeler on Law & Order: Criminal Intent at the time. Last week, Hulu spoke to Nicholson to get her take on working with Krasinski. — Rebecca Harper (), Editor
Hulu: How did you prepare for the role of Sara Quinn?
Julianne Nicholson: Mostly, it was just talking with John, actually. He approached me and first sort of pitched the idea to me, and said that he loved the book and had done a reading of it in college, and was now adapting it. He said that he had me in mind while he was doing it, which was a huge compliment. I was doing another job at the time, also, so it was working with the material and the director, and just being a woman who has had relationships with men. I could draw from those.
Had you read the book beforehand?
I had not. I was a fan of the [David Foster Wallace's] from his essays. I had read a number of his essays, which I had loved, but I had never read this book. I did after I read this script; I went back and read the book, also. I think he was amazing. I think he had an incredible hook, and if you can get into it — I had tried reading Infinite Jest , the massive tome that you would sort of see people lugging around everywhere. I had tried reading it, and I’m afraid I couldn’t really get into it at that time. I look forward to reading it — it’s still on my bookshelf. It’s still one of those that I know I will come back to. His essays proved a little bit easier for me. I thought they were incredible and very engaging. I had never read anything quite like it, with his style and his voice.
What did you think of John’s adaptation?
I thought he did a great job. It was interesting reading them in reverse. I thought he had done a great job of staying true to the original, but also creating a story, a link, through them. I don’t know if you’re going to talk to John, but he told me he had spoken — I think once — to David Foster Wallace, who I hear was sort of going back and forth on whether he wanted to hear John’s idea of how he would link it. When John told it was to create a new character, one that I wound up playing, I think that was the idea that Wallace had all along. So John picked up on that, I guess, and it had his blessing, which is also nice.
Can you tell us about Sara Quinn?
Sure. She’s just had a breakup herself that was very surprising and upsetting. She’s also doing her thesis, so she’s an academic. She’s in school, and she’s very smart and driven, but at a moment in her life where she’s just been rocked. She’s searching, I would say.
This role brought you in contact with a number of the actors who play the “hideous men,” and you shared scenes with likes of Timothy Hutton. What was that like — was the set as somber as the tone of the movie?
[Laughs] No, no. The set was never somber, especially because John Krasinski is one of the funniest people I have ever met in my entire life. Maybe there were one or two times where it called for quiet on the set, but I was usually in those scenes by myself, anyway. Everyone was so gung ho, and I think it started with John and his incredible energy and passion and intelligence and humor. It was quite a while ago, but it was great, getting to spend time with all those different people. It was such a gift, to be able to go to work and, you know, see someone new every day and watch them do their thing. It was very exciting to watch. I was the interviewer, so I was mostly listening. As you see in the film, I do a lot of watching and listening. It was great; I loved it.
You touched on this a bit, but what was it like working with John, considering his passion for the project?
It was such a treat. I was doing a television show at the time — I was doing Criminal Intent, which I loved, and it was very good to me. It was very exciting to go from — you know, Law and Order is a big working machine. To be able to go to these little stages with this smaller crew and just sort of be more quiet and collaborative was very exciting and so fulfilling for me. John was great. I wish I had some nasty story about somebody that I could share with you, but I’m afraid I just don’t.
What are you working on these days? I know you have two little ones at home, but will we see you back in the spotlight?
Well, I did a film last summer called William Vincent with James Franco and Josh Lucas, and that was just at Tribeca [Film Festival], and now they’re waiting for distribution on that — same old independent story. I’m also about to do a movie called Second Child. Have you seen this movie called The Maid last year? It was this Chilean movie, and everyone says “I’ve seen the poster!” It was such a great movie, and it got a lot great attention. This director is doing another, his first American film, hopefully in September.
Well, thank you for your time today — and good luck with the new project.
Thank you. I was so excited when I got that email that said we were doing well on Hulu!
“This video has expired” ? WTF is that ? Mark my words Hulu, the fickleness of Hollywood IP “protection” / licensing-crackheads will ultimately frustrate your viewers. Your challenge, I’m sure you realize already, is not to attract viewers. Your challenge is to get “Hollywood” to treat this media like every other media – just play the damn video, play the damn ads, and stop all these f**#ing games.
August 20th, 2010 by Basil TsiokosindieWIRE Contributor
The ‘Socalled’ Movie is a multi-faceted portrait of a similarly multi-faceted performer, Josh Dolgin AKA “Socalled,” a gay, Jewish, Montreal-based hip-hop klezmer artist. Presented in 18 separate segments, the documentary offers an entertaining and illuminating look into Socalled’s creativity, influences, and background.
indieWIRE spoke to the film’s director, Garry Beitel, last week about how he met Socalled, their collaborative process, and how the film got its shape. — Basil Tsoikos, indieWIRE
iW: How did you meet Josh/Socalled, and how did the project come together?
Garry Beitel: I used to teach documentary filmmaking at McGill University [in Montreal]. In 1998, Josh was my student, so I got to know him as an aspiring filmmaker. We talked about film and music and became friends. We kept in touch after university, going for coffee every once and awhile. This project came about after I bumped into him at a klezmer concert in Montreal – he was there with his father, trying to organize a klezmer cruise to the Ukraine, and he said I should film it.
While that was the original idea, it became clear to me quickly that he was more interesting than this one event. He was surprised that I wanted to make a film about him – it was a little uncomfortable for him at first.
iW: Can you talk about why you decided to structure the film as a series of vignettes? It seems to reflect both the practice of sampling music as well as Josh seemingly being involved with 100 projects at one time.
GB: The structure was inspired by one of my favorite films, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Gould was someone you thought you knew all about, and the filmmaker switched things around to show you new perspectives. I wanted to do something similar, and Josh lent himself to that kind of treatment.
You have him pegged as a musician, but then he’s also a filmmaker, and a magician, and a cartoonist, and he rediscovers all these old musicians and makes old music contemporary. The structure let me get at all that, it’s like peeling away at the skin of an onion. So the structure allowed that, while also referencing the sampling of his work and the creative process that he is involved in.
iW: How much time did you film Josh, and did you have a good idea what you wanted to include in the film at the beginning of the process?
GB: Filming began in November 2006 and the film was completed in 2010. It took a long time to raise money, but that was a good thing for the film, because it meant I followed him for a long time – about two-and-a-half years of filming. There were some things I knew I wanted to include immediately, like the magic. I wanted to show him practicing his tricks just like he practices the piano, a long meticulous process of repetition. But there were other things I couldn’t predict, like following him around France on tour, or giving a tour of his childhood bedroom, which hadn’t changed at all.
iW: What was Josh’s level of input about what the project would look like? Was there anything that he didn’t want to include in the film?
GB: Every time we got together, I would ask him what he had coming up in the next few weeks or months, and based on that we would plan a filming schedule. But I would discover through other people that he wasn’t always telling me everything he was up to – things he didn’t want me to film or just didn’t think would be that important for the film. So it took some negotiating.
The way I typically film, I try to capture people doing what they do without interruption – but for Josh, I also wanted him to talk about his process while he was in the midst of passionately creative work. That was uncomfortable for him, because he’s a doer, he’s not introspective. So there was a bit of tension, because I wanted to understand his motivation, and he could get impatient about that.
The way I would deal with that was by including the two short films he made in the film, and he got complete control of those. I stepped back and became the producer for those instead, and that let me have control of the rest of the film. But Josh was incredibly helpful in the last stages of the film in working with the music of the film. There were little things he disagreed with, and we would discuss things like that, that he would have to live with after the film was shown publicly.
iW: Josh speaks to a wide range of potential audiences – Jewish, gay, hip hop, hipsters, etc – who don’t often always come together in the same place. How has the film connected with these audiences – have there been differences in the reactions from these different groups?
GB: Josh called his last album “Ghetto Blaster” because that’s what his music does – it breaks down musical ghettoes and categories. He works as a cultural archaeologist, finding treasures from the past that have been forgotten, modernizes them, takes them out of the categories they were originally in, and transforms them into something contemporary. This breaks down those categories so that all different kinds of people can enter his work, weaving in and out of traditional categories and genres. I’ve watched the film with a large number of audiences, and the group experience is great – there’s so much laughter and celebration, it seems to transcend usual self-selecting categories.
iW: There’s obviously a lot of music in the film, given the subject. Is there a soundtrack album or a way for audiences to get all the music?
GB: There’s no soundtrack planned, but the DVD will be coming out, which has extra features with additional music. So audiences can get the DVD or go to Socalled’s website to get access to the music he’s creating.
August 13th, 2010 by Basil TsiokosindieWIRE Contributor
SnagFilms’ 2nd annual SummerFest, a free online festival showcasing exclusive, limited-duration runs of popular new documentaries, continues with A Fighting Chance, the fifth film in the series, having its world premiere today. [Editor's Note: Our partner, SnagFilms, is the parent company of indieWIRE.]
A Fighting Chance profiles the charismatic and inspiring athlete Kyle Maynard, a former high school and college award-winning wrestler who also happens to have been born without forearms or lower legs. The film follows Kyle as he attempts to make history by becoming the first differently abled fighter to compete against able-bodied opponents in mixed martial arts (MMA), facing unexpected controversy from vocal fans and athletes who believe such a goal is dangerous or makes the sport a “freakshow.”
indieWIRE spoke to the film’s directors, Takashi Doscher and Alex Shofner, last week about why Kyle’s such a great documentary subject, what motivates him, and why he’s generated controversy.
iW: How did you meet Kyle, and how did the idea for the film come about?
Takashi Doscher: We were friends growing up — we went to the same high school, and knew each other for years. After college, we were hanging out as old buddies do and Kyle asked me to update the intro video he uses for his motivational speaking engagements. After we talked about what he wanted to include in it, and he told me about his aspirations to compete in MMA, it snowballed and I told him that I thought we had something bigger than a [3- to 4-minute] video. I called up Alex, who was my roommate in college, and we got right into it.
iW: What do you think makes Kyle such an engaging, and, in many ways, such a polarizing figure?
Alex Shofner: Coming from a slightly more outsider perspective — since Takashi grew up with him, and I met him as an adult — Kyle has a magical quality. With his condition, it’s very apparent immediately that he’s missing his arms and legs, and you are blown away by how much he can do. But the most amazing thing is that, within 15 to 20 minutes of meeting him, you completely forget about his disability because he is so engaging and confident and has such a magnetic personality.
TD: As for the naysayers, I think that people in general have certain expectations when they see someone like Kyle, and Kyle time and time again has proven able to separate himself from those expectations. More so, Kyle hasn’t been participating in other disabled competitions against other disabled athletes — he’s been competing against able-bodied athletes head-to-head. I think people tend to dismiss disabled athletes in the latter situation, but when they’re confronted with someone like Kyle who not only competes against able-bodied athletes but also physically bests them — that’s like a quantum leap of perception — it’s striking and difficult to come to terms with.
iW:Kyle clearly is a very good athlete, as he’s proven in his wrestling career. What is it about MMA that motivated him to try to prove himself there?
AS: Kyle is the type of guy who sees a peak and wants to climb it. After wrestling, MMA is the next logical step — there’s no real other option. We all know “professional wrestling” isn’t real. MMA allows Kyle the chance to face able-bodied people on an even playing field, and that feeds into his incredibly competitive drive.
TD: The thing to understand about Kyle is that he doesn’t view himself as “disabled,” or, to a great extent, he views everyone as “disabled” in a different way — maybe someone is emotionally disabled, or lacking in self-confidence, or is learning disabled. It just so happens that his disability is more visible. So competing in MAA is not out of the realm of possibility, and the sport plays to his strengths as a wrestler. He wouldn’t attempt to compete in a sport in which he has no experience.
iW: While the film is clearly about Kyle and his MMA goal, it also speaks to a much larger issue — self-determination for people with disabilities — why shouldn’t he compete if he feels able to? Can you talk about this aspect of the film, and balancing that with telling Kyle’s specific story?
TD: This is one of the first things made on him that is personal, and we were careful to establish him as a person first — without knowing who Kyle is, you can’t get to the larger outside message.
AS: When he started wrestling in middle school, Kyle lost his first 34 matches, but working with his dad, they invented a new way for him to wrestle since he couldn’t use some of the basic grips that are part of the sport. This is his message, not just to disabled people but to everyone: the only barriers people have are the ones they put in front of themselves.
iW: What do you hope audiences will take away from Kyle’s story, especially those people who may have been negative or skeptical about his MMA aspirations?
TD: I hope that audiences will be inspired to attempt to do something that they’ve always wanted to do but never thought they could. Regarding his critics, we definitely don’t shy away from presenting their views in the film — their voices are reflected in the film.
AS: Kyle has always proven to have a startling impact on people. I hope that this film helps him reach a wider audience than ever before to spread his message. I am curious to see how his critics will respond after they’ve seen it and have gotten to know him through the film.
iW: In addition to the SnagFilms SummerFest premiere, a version of the film is scheduled to air on ESPN on Veterans Day, November 11. Can you talk about the significance of the film screening on this specific day?
AS: Well, it’s an unbelievable opportunity, and we’re completely thrilled. Kyle has wanted to join the military from an early age — his dad was part of the military police — and he was born at Walter Reed [Army Medical Center] in DC. From a very young age, he has been involved with speaking with and training our wounded warriors coming back from various conflicts. He’s been a real inspiration to them.
TD: For some reason, soldiers can easily relate to him. They’re coming back with debilitating injuries and loss of limbs, and Kyle and his MMA story are incredibly inspiring to them. A lot of soldiers love the sport, so they have this added connection. Because of his condition, Kyle’s able to connect with soldiers on a personal level, help them at Walter Reed in rehab and training, showing them how he does things. So we’re extremely excited to show the film on Veterans Day — several vets are featured in the film as well. We can’t wait for the reaction.
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I myself mostly use http://www.tvmad.com because it’s probably the most user-friendly and simple to use.
Of course everyone has their own favorites :)
Cheers,
Martin
Don’t gave a lap top so I would really enjoy hulu on my phone