Big wigs in entertainment, advertising and Internet technology gathered at Orbita US 2009, a digital media summit hosted by Terra in New York City this week. Those in attendance got the chance to hear Oliver Stone speak.
“I’ve heard the democratic argument [for the internet] and I’m not an elitist, but … a mashup is not a movie. It’s offensive,” said the director of Natural Born Killers, Wall Street, Platoon and many other notable films.
“Certainly at the beginning of this thing, the internet was an enemy. It was just a disaster for people like me who are classically trained in film school,” Stone said. “We’ve got 6 billion people showing off. I don’t understand. How do you judge? What is life for? Is there a hierarchy of quality or not? Or is it all the same?”
I salute Terra, an internet company with a massive Hispanic audience, for bringing a contrary view to the stage.
To Stone’s line of questioning, I’d say no it’s not all the same. There is craft here, just like in other media, but it’s a new game and for the best players “the craft” is fast developing.