TRIBECA FLASHPOINT ACADEMY CEO HOWARD TULLMAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ASSESSING OBAMA: WHEN VELOCITY MAY OVERWHELM VERACITY

The sky is obviously falling for the Obama administration, if you buy into the increasing but arguably exaggerated, even vaguely unhinged, elite media opinion in the capital.

President Obama and top aides have lied to the country about the Benghazi raid and the IRS meddling with various groups. He’s too passive. He sees himself as a victim. “Scandals” are engulfing his second term. The White House is falling apart.

That’s the drift. But don’t bet against the same people shortly announcing that Obama has put out the fire, righted the ship, dodged a bullet, etc. In a world of short attention spans, the downside of error seems minimal.

The possible lack of perspective is head-turning and, somewhere in the mix, is technology and a media culture where, in significant ways, being provocative and "interesting" can seem a greater priority than being right and, thus, simply more measured.

It’s why I turned to one of the smarter folks I know who doesn’t live and work in Washington. He’s Howard Tullman, a lawyer-turned-serial entrepreneur who now runs an impressive, scandal-free for-profit college in Chicago called Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy. 

Tribeca gives fully accredited two–year degrees in digital arts and entertainment technologies. The “Tribeca” reflects a partnership with actor Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Enterprises, best known for its film festival.

Tullman is one of those guys who seems to know everybody; a politically-active Democrat whose work has brought him close ties and respect in industries as diverse as Hollywood, Silicon Valley, restaurant and auto. And given his work at Flashpoint, he’s a true expert on social media and lectures on it worldwide.

So, when he looks at the reporting out of Washington, and the role of Twitter, Facebook, cable TV and other means of instant assessment of political matters, what does he think?

“We’re living in very scary times. There’s no question that - in the world of web conversations - volume (in both senses – tone and tonnage) and velocity have completely overwhelmed any kind of vision or veracity.”

“Every day the biggest blowhards extinguish even the brightest bulbs. There’s just no room left for considered discussion or deliberation because the pace of the back-and-forth continues to pick up and no one in the media can afford to be left in the dust.”

“So it’s every factoid for itself – shoot first and fact-check later. If you’re wrong, BFD. And we, the shell-shocked public - are left on the sidelines watching a steady stream of aggressive and ill-founded accusations predicated on false hopes and made-up figures without a clue or a trusted guide to help through the crap and the clutter.”

“When Bob Dylan said long ago that “you don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows”, he could never have envisioned a time when the unceasing winds of cheap conversation blew in every direction at once and whatever the truth may have been was blown out the window.”

READ MORE: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/theswamp/2013/05/assessing-obama-when-velocity-may-overwhelm-veracity

New York Times: A High-Tech Alternative for Hollywood Hopefuls

A High-Tech Alternative for Hollywood Hopefuls

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 

By JAMES WARREN

Published: February 6, 2010

James Warren is a columnist for the Chicago News Cooperative.

This article is part of our expanded Chicago coverage.

 “House lights up!” proclaimed the silver-haired former lawyer who, with blue jeans, black T-shirt, black safari jacket and Nikes, looked oh-so Hollywood in an oh-so Chicago bastion, the Merchandise Mart.

As four understudies from the Second City comedy troupe entered the sound stage, they were trailed by film students climaxing three weeks of labor by taping a half-hour faux “Saturday Night Live.” It featured comedy sketches, droll pre-taped mock commercials and a live performance by Rhymefest, a hip hop artist.

The students get academic credit by handling sound, cameras, lights and the funny people, all with the help of professionals, and their polished handiwork, “Live at the Mart,” may soon be shown on NBC locally or nationally. It underscored the glitz, teamwork and market-driven pragmatism at the core of Chicago’s Flashpoint Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most curious and disorienting educational institutions.

Imagine Pixar, Disney, Nintendo and Dreamworks all melded into a vocational setting. Started in 2007, this is a pricey ($25,000 a year) two-year school intended for those not motivated by high school, or brief college stays, but who are captivated by technology.

“I was bored by high school,” said Craig Reuss, 18, a red-haired, somnolent-looking first-year student from Lake Geneva, Wis., who wants to work in video games.

Focused in four areas — students can earn an associate of applied science in recording arts, visual effects and animation, game development and film — Flashpoint has drawn visits and testimonials from directors like Ken Burns, Harold Ramis and Quentin Tarantino, as well as executives from Microsoft, broadcast producers and video game development firms.

Howard Tullman, the ex-lawyer with a sleek West Coast look and air, runs the academy on a belief that too many students are “demotivated” by technology-poor four-year schools, and that the convergence of digital technologies necessitates a cross-disciplinary curriculum, mandated collaboration and faculty from high-tech industries.

A workaholic P.T. Barnum with an eclectic modern art collection that is on display throughout the hallways, Mr. Tullman is unabashedly derisive of old academia. He labels “a joke” the tradition of professors’ lecturing, and finds most university film schools a waste, producing “coffee fetchers.”

The academy has 450 students, 26 full-time faculty members and a core curriculum of basic communications skills, English and math. Students work 30 to 40 hours a week producing video games, films and animation. Microsoft and others use the school to test next-generation technology.

“This is the Julliard of digital technology,” said Lyn Niemann of Downers Grove, a former Chicago Tribune reporter and, at 45, one of the older students.

Start-up costs were $20 million, with 90,000 square feet at the main building at 28 North Clark Street, and 50,000 square feet at the Mart. Even pros are taken aback by the facilities: two large performance and broadcast stages; four sound recording studios; five 36-station computer labs for film, recording arts, animation and game development; 10 classrooms with multiple projectors and surround sound; a vast digital media storage infrastructure and a screening room also used by big-time movie productions filming in Chicago.

Amanda See, 21, an aspiring film producer from Huntley, Ill., spent a year at the University of Iowa, and then decided to go to Flashpoint. “They just couldn’t keep up with the fast pace of the industry,” she said of Iowa.

Nicholas Gerger, 21, of Barrington, spent three semesters at Harper College. “I didn’t do well and didn’t apply myself,” he said. He was entranced during a tour of Flashpoint and delighted when he got a camera and a mandate to “go out and do something” on his first day of cinematography.

Classes meet three times a week for nine weeks. Flashpoint said it placed 70 percent of its graduates — most impressive, given the economy — and it was just awarded degree-granting authority from the Illinois Board of Higher Education, a key step in the ultimate goal of formal accreditation.

Local employers lauding the academy include Josh Tsui, president of Robomodo, a Chicago video game developer who created the latest version of the popular Tony Hawk series. Bruno Cohen, general manager of WBBM-TV, finds Flashpoint inspirational. “It’s all about preparation, focus and hard work,” Mr. Cohen said.

Ultimately, the academy appears to be a welcome experiment: a vocational school not for traditional blue-collar trades but for creative tasks.

Mr. Tullman is probably too harsh in his assessment of the many inspiring professors in liberal arts lecture halls. But the market will be the final arbiter.

James Warren is a longtime Chicago journalist and the publisher of The Chicago Reader.

TRIBECA FLASHPOINT ACADEMY CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN - NY TIMES ARTICLE BY JAMES WARREN

Auto Industry May Want to Look at That Luxury-Car Plan Again

MORE INFO ON TRIBECA FLASHPOINT MEDIA ARTS ACADEMY

By JAMES WARREN

James Warren writes a column for The Chicago News Cooperative.

While shoveling out a Honda Civic on Friday morning, I was reminded of my utterly utilitarian perspective on cars. I want them to get from Point A to Point B efficiently. That’s it.

My thinking is one reason Howard Tullman says he believes the American auto industry is deluded, despite its current euphoria over increased sales.

“The thrust of Detroit’s thinking is that they are still speaking to people who have a personal, emotional connection to the vehicle they operate. It’s a complete miscalculation, certainly of any person under 35,” said Mr. Tullman, who has deep ties to the industry.

When I noted that General Motors was heralding expensive new luxury models in its Buick and Cadillac divisions at the Detroit auto show and forthcoming Chicago auto show, the man who has often advised auto’s hierarchy scoffed. “Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” he said.

Mr. Tullman, 66, is a lawyer turned serial entrepreneur, a driven, self-promoting and well-connected pragmatist. His Rolodex may match that of his chum Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who resided with Mr. Tullman during the election campaign while the candidate’s family was in Washington.

He is president of Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, a profit-making private Chicago college focusing on digital arts and entertainment technologies. He started it as Flashpoint in 2007 and is now partnered with Tribeca Enterprises, the New York company founded by, among others, Robert De Niro.

Mr. Tullman is a sharp observer of rapid technological and cultural change. At a private dinner on Tuesday, he gave the audience a succinct overview of social media — and inadvertently piqued my curiosity about cars.

His presentation detailed four trends: hyperpersonalization, by which one can direct one-on-one messaging to millions of people; accountability in measurement, which allows advertisers to demand concrete metrics on their results; our being constantly tethered to other people and decision-making information, thus letting us walk through one store while pricing the same products at another on smartphones; and a significant lowering of barriers to starting a business.

“He has incredible value as a liaison between the digital generation and an older one,” said Jane Hanna, 30, the social media strategist for the Field Museum, who attended the dinner. “He’s a powerful voice to connect the two.”

Those under 35, he declared, don’t care much about privacy or accuracy as they give away personal information on Facebook and elsewhere.

Jack Fuller, an author and former president of the Tribune Publishing Company, was struck by “the radical democratization of judgments about accuracy and importance” that Mr. Tullman detailed, while the lawyer-author Scott Turow was not quite so sure people would surrender as much privacy once they realized what they were doing. But this was all after Mr. Tullman told me at dinner his views of Detroit, based on ample experience.

He founded CCC Information Services, which maintains databases on the value of used cars for insurers settling theft and total loss claims; was board chairman of Colbalt Group, which provides digital marketing and economic solutions to the industry; and founded Original Research II, which asked car buyers about sales and service satisfaction.

“When I see G.M. doubling up on luxury cars due to their profit model, I can’t help but think they’re missing the boat again,” he said.

A younger generation wants fuel-efficient, utilitarian vehicles, he said, if they want them at all. The calculation will change somewhat when they become parents and need a child’s car seat. But they will opt for smaller, safer and less expensive cars, he said.

Culturally, Mr. Tullman points to the disappearance of “grease monkeys.” We don’t learn how to repair a car anymore because it takes “a $250,000 computer diagnostic system to do it,” he said. “You don’t learn how to fix a carburetor in vocational ed class.” That’s gone, he said, and with it the realms of car enthusiasts who craved swanky or mechanically souped-up vehicles.

“The few exceptions are Hispanics — the last of the car cultures — and crazy Californians who obsessively paint their cars,” he said. A subgroup of remaining car fanatics is “big-city gangbangers and rap stars with their Escalades.”

Finally, he says he continues to be struck by the absence of women in upper management.  “If you don’t have a feminine, ecological, environmental side,” he said, “it will be very hard to address this new market.”

jwarren@chicagonewscoop.org

AT http://www.tfa.edu/

LESLIE HINDMAN HOSTS JIM WARREN AND JIM O'SHEA FOR BOOK DISCUSSION ON "THE DEAL FROM HELL"