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Yesterday I had an interview with IslamOnline.net. You can check it out here:

http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=9t3PNc

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New York times has an article about the producers of some of the top viral videos that have made it online and seen by millions of viewers.

Young Video Makers Try to Alter Islam’s Face: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08video.html

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What is this writer strike really all about?

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 11 — As Hollywood digs in for a second week of a strike, the screenwriters might want to send a few angry picketers over to Will Smith’s place. Or Steven Spielberg’s. And maybe the studio executives should think about joining them on the line. As it turns out, the pot of money that the producers and writers are fighting over may have already been pocketed by the entertainment industry’s biggest talent.

That is the conclusion of a surprisingly bleak new assessment of financial dynamics in the movie industry titled “Do Movies Make Money?” The researchers’ answer: not any more.

The New York Times has the full story: Hollywood on Strike

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Here is a video to summarize what its all about:

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by Omar Sacirbey, Globe Corresponden | June 26, 2007

When Labid Aziz of Natick thinks about “Never Mind Nirvana,” he sees a missed opportunity. A 2004 pilot for an NBC sitcom, it was centered on the travails of an Indian-American doctor, his pregnant white girlfriend, and his traditional parents, who move in. It was written by Indian-American novelist Ajay Sahgal, directed by “Friends” star David Schwimmer, and starred Kal Penn of “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.” But the show didn’t make NBC’s final cut, losing out that year to “The Office” and “Joey.”

South Asians like Aziz, 32, a Bangladeshi-American Muslim and aspiring producer, saw in “Nirvana” a wellspring of roles that didn’t involve playing a terrorist or convenience store clerk while portraying the South Asian community, or a slice of it, in a way that might inspire empathy rather than incite resentment. On this fall’s schedule, Aziz has a second opportunity: The CW network is unveiling a new sitcom called “Aliens in America” about a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan.

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Read  the full Boston Globe article here: Producer eyes better TV, film roles for Muslims