Loved being a guest panelist with fellow journalists talking to University of Maryland journalism students about the state of the industry, pitching, and starting/maintaining a freelance writing career.
Thanks professor David Oliver for including me!
I’m wrapping up my tenure as president of The Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Television Academy (NATASPSW). It’s been an honor to lead this organization during the past four years, including during the pandemic. Previous to this, I served four years as vice president. I received this commemorative Emmy Award statue during our recent awards gala in Palm Springs.
Thank you to my board members past and present, as well as our administrator. I will continue serving on the NATASPSW board and supporting the TV and media professionals in our chapter and beyond.
Had a great time virtually announcing the NATAS Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards nominations. As chapter president, I was one of the six presenters.
Watch the nom announcement here. Congratulations to all the nominees!
I’m looking forward to the 48th annual NATAS-PSW Emmy Awards, which will be held Saturday, June 18, 2022 at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, California.
My sons and I attended the media preview of “Ron’s Gone Wrong” – an animated comedy adventure by 20th Century Studios and Locksmith Animation’s first theatrical release – about a socially awkward 7th grader, Barney Pudowski. The boy becomes friends with a B*Bot – a personal robot that walks, talks and is supposed to keep him digitally connected.
The B*Bot, short for Bubble Bot, was created by a company named Bubble, which seems to be a mix of Apple and Facebook. While the device is a digital friend, it’s actually tracking the user’s preferences and knows that person’s private information. While Bubble sees this as a business opportunity for marketing and sales, kids just see it as fun, and a chance to make friends.
“Best Friend out of the Box”
When we left the theater, my eight-year-old told me he would love a B*Bot. On some level, I think we would all like a personal robot. The B*Bot is billed as “Best Friend out of the Box.” It’s loyal to one person, it’s owner/user. Think about it, with a personalized robot, you always have a friend: someone to agree with you, someone who likes what you like and someone who will always do what do you want to do.
But even a personalized robot might not be all it seems. All of the kids in Barney’s school have one of these robots. He doesn’t have one and consequently he always feels left out. We see him struggling at recess to make a friend while his classmates are having fun with others and everyone’s robots too.
Barney, voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer, is desperate for a B*Bot, since it seems like a friendly sidekick. His dad and grandmother realize it’s all he wants so they scrape together money but there’s a long waiting list. All they can buy is a back-alley battered bot that is scratched. They didn’t realize it was malfunctioning too.
When Barney realizes his bot is damaged, he’s disappointed but he perseveres because a battered bot is better than none at all, or so he thinks. It turns out his robot, serial number R0NB1NT5CAT5CO, aka Ron, doesn’t know how to be an instant friend and it has different settings than a typical model. Comedian Zach Galifianakis is fun in this role as Ron.
Soon Barney finds out the malfunctioning robot can get violent. He’s amazed as Ron beats up the bully, a YouTuber-type who’s always picking on Barney. The bully’s live stream shows the whole incident and soon the hunt is on for Barney and Ron – since the Bubble team is concerned that a violent robot would be bad for business.
By then, Barney has been teaching Ron how to be a friend. The two have fun, even laughing and playing outdoors. They genuinely like each other and start to become real friends.
Meanwhile we see how these devices, which are always connected, can livestream users’ activities which can embarrass them. For example, a stunt goes awry and we see Barney’s classmate, a girl he’s known since kindergarten, get humiliated on camera.
Technology isn’t all bad though. This movie was made during the pandemic and every Friday, the the “Ron’s Gone Wrong” crew would get together on Zoom for their weekly production status meeting.
Real-life relationships
Ron is unlike other B*Bots. The B*Bot’s creator, Marc Wydell (voiced by Justice Smith) – a young developer a lot like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – never programmed the device to laugh. He longed for friendship as a kid and seems to embrace this unexpected malfunction. Mark says his design was created for the purity of having a friend. But like real life social media, the original intent seems to get lost in a sea of sales and business opportunity.
The other B*Bot executive, Andrew Morris (portrayed by Rob Delaney) – a Steve Jobs-like character – emerges as the bad guy, who’s more concerned about profiting off the product, than customer satisfaction.
Andrew is the one who wants to literally crush the malfunctioning bot. But Barney and his real-life friends band together to protect Ron and restore their friendship. After all, they’ve all known each other since kindergarten and even though they’re doing different things now, they have a common foundation of friendship.
The movie is an eye-opener about how as a society, we’re all so focused on having the latest device, and at the same time, ignoring real-life relationships. It’s a good remind for adults and kids to look beyond screen time for interaction.
“Ron’s Gone Wrong” opens nationwide October 22, 2021.
Still soaking up the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Pacific Southwest (NATAS-PSW) Emmy Awards. I love being president of this chapter.
While I was honored to be nominated for “Outstanding Achievement for Special Events Coverage” of last year’s virtual show, I did not receive an Emmy Award this year. However, I had so much fun on the pre-show Zoom and participating in the virtual awards.
Then on Saturday we distributed the statues at Viejas Casino and Resort. A photographer snapped red carpet pictures and a videographer recorded acceptance speeches. We also enjoyed a little swag – check out the delicious popcorn gifted by Popped Gourmet Popcorn.
Honored to have won two Excellence in Journalism Awards from the San Diego Press Club. I also enjoyed producing this year’s Press Club awards show and catching up with my media colleagues and fellow Press Club board members.
Fun and at times irreverent, “Teen Titans Go to the Movies,” is a cute film that’s appealing to kids and adults.
I attended the preview with my sons and they loved this film.
The premise is easy to understand: Robin is tired of just being seen as Batman’s sidekick. He wants to star in movies and save the day like all the Justice League superheroes he sees. Robin, paired up with his Teen Titan crew, struggles to be taken seriously in his life and on screen.
Robin wants the movie director, voiced by Kristen Bell to give him a shot as a movie star. She’s reluctant to do so unless the Boy Wonder can have a great adversary. He finds that rival in Slade, played by Will Arnett, who is also “Teen Titans Go to the Movies” producer.
Slade tries to manipulate Robin and the Teen Titans with mind games. But they see beyond his gimmicks. The theme resonates with kids and parents: you don’t have to be a superhero, you just have to be yourself.
“Teen Titans Go to the Movies” was full of potty humor, fart jokes and booty shaking. The jokes are targeted to kids but much of the humor gets laughs from adults too.
The soundtrack is filled with many great 80’s hits, including Huey Lewis’ “Back in Time.” There’s also an “Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life” by Michael Bolton, which is cheesy, silly and perfect all at the same time.
“Teen Titans Go to the Movie,” rated PG, opens Friday, July 27.
Thank you Times of San Diego for including me in your article about the recent sale of the The San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times.
Here’s an excerpt:
For Kristen Castillo, 2018 president of the San Diego Press Club, the sale represented another change in the local media landscape. “We are hopeful this sale protects the integrity of news while also supporting our fellow journalists,” she said.
I am honored to serve as President of the San Diego Press Club.
Kristen Castillo 