News

Here's a roundup of stories on fannish technologies in the news that might be of interest to fans:

• The new site WorldCosplay is making an effort to connect cosplayers across the globe. "Though still in beta, the network already comes in an impressive 12 languages." WorldCosplay has some differences from existing sites. "There are already three big social network players in the cosplay community: the American based Cosplay.com, the Japanese Cure, and the general art site Deviant Art. Since the first two focus on their home countries and the third was never designed to be a cosplay community, Botea said WorldCosplay might have a chance to become the cosplayer’s social network of choice."
• Apple's recent effort to promote textbook publishing for the iPad prompted this discussion of the need to simplify epublishing. "Ebooks have blown open that world of exclusivity — but the ease of use still isn’t there. There’s a long list of tools that try to make ebook creation easier, from big names (Apple’s Pages, Adobe’s InDesign) to smaller ones (Scrivener) to open source alternatives like calibre. But it’s still a complicated enough business that there’s a healthy ecosystem of companies offering ebook conversion services." Indeed the growing simplicity of online posting and content hosting sites helped fan fiction's distribution grow enormously, but few sites replicate the print book experience. "But if publishing is dirt simple...how would publishers (book, news, and otherwise) respond to an even greater flood of competing content than the ebook world has already produced?"
• YouTube was also a milestone, not just in the distribution of video content, but in its revealing look at the diversity of fan-created visual works. However the site is moving away from the amateur creator. As YouTube increasingly promotes partnerships with professional producers "what will happen to the “little guy,” those who make content to share with people—not for profit?" Various critical reactions have sprung up. "“I don't want my TV to invade YouTube,” commented Porcelanesa on the promo video. “I came here because it was YOUtube, people talking to people and sharing their lives, videos of their kids, their pets, something exciting that happened during the day they wanted to share with someone else. Normal people, like you and me.”"

If you cosplay, write fan fiction, or create videos, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fannish histories in the news that might be of interest to fans:

• CNN's Geek Out blog hosted a post by Colette Bennett about how she became a J-Pop fangirl. "In 2008, a friend of mine mentioned that he enjoyed Japanese television dramas - known fondly as J-dramas to the fan community. I had no idea what the J-drama scene was about, but it wasn't long before I sat down to watch one. The opening scene was accompanied by a Japanese pop song from outrageously popular boy band Arashi. Within five minutes, I had two new realizations: I was madly in love with J-dramas, and I was madly in love with Arashi." The Korea Herald recently hosted a similar article by Elizabeth Gwee about her love of K-Pop fandom. "I don’t fit the stereotype of a K-pop fan. I like to think of myself as a mature, normal-functioning, happily married adult. I try not to brainwash my friends into liking it, unless they ask me about it. K-pop happens to be something that my husband, who introduced me to it, and I enjoy indulging in when we need an escape from mundane adult life."
• Romance novel review site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books hosted a discussion about paranormal vs. contemporary romance fans that tried to define how each group participated in their fandom. "[T]he paranormal fans are more likely to click links, rate books, review books and spread the word about a series they love - and connect with other readers. That's not to say that the contemporary fanbase can't be built among readers; I think the limitation is that the contemporary world building is reality-based, and ultimately the connected activities are both based in the real world (knitting, cooking, etc.) and focused on real-world promotion instead of online."
• Today in Comics History posted about the origins of comic book fandom, citing the practice of allowing fans to network among themselves as a turning point. "Now letters pages were not rare before the 1960s, and even letters pages with full addresses (name, street, city, state) were published in comic books back in the 1930s. And there were fans clubs, even if they were mostly company run. But something changed with comic book fans in the early 1960s. There were many factors, but one key was the older, activist fan like Jerry Bails, Roy Thomas, and Don & Maggie Thompson. They enjoyed comic books and wanted to tell others about it. And they had the life experience and knowledge to act on that desire."
• Lastly, The Literary Omnivore had some book recommendations about fandoms highlighting "three works dealing with pre-Internet fans."

If you've read zines or are part of the comics, J-pop, K-Pop, or romance book fandoms, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on fandom works in the news that might be of interest to fans:

• Indiana Jones fan Jeff Gurwood created a stop-motion film of the Raiders of the Lost Ark opening which gained media attention. The film took "six months of work, 45 hours a week" and "cost him about $500 to $600." The fan film was undertaken only after he and his creative partner attempted to sell a film based on an original work they had made and after the "Syfy channel came close to green-lighting a series. And Adult Swim, the late-night arm of Cartoon Network, talked to the pair about a year before producing Robot Chicken, which also features action figure stop-motion." He currently has at least one offer: "A major toy manufacturer saw the Raiders video and is looking to hire Gurwood to make videos for its toy lines."
• The band My Chemical Romance's new video was partially created by a fan. "Emily Eisemann, a 21-year-old from New York, had created a collage-like YouTube video called “My Chemical Romance - Celebrating 10 Years as a Band,” which singer Gerard Way and crew stumbled upon while mining for footage to use in a similar purpose." Now available on YouTube "in a nod to Eisemann, her original video -- and story -- is also linked prominently."
• Filmmaker Ryan James Yezak "was better known on YouTube for his glittery remakes of Katy Perry and Rihanna videos as gay love stories" before he turned his hand to a new project, a successful fund raising effort to create "a full-length documentary, called Second Class Citizens." The current trailer "takes the viewer on a fast-paced journey through the gay rights movement, starting with historic footage denouncing “homosexuals.”" A major supporter was actor George Takei. "“This young filmmaker made my Spidey video,” he tweeted, referring to a campaign to have Takei play Spider-Man on Broadway. “If you watch one clip today, let it be this.”"
• Less inspiring is a recent trend to get celebrities to read fan fiction on camera, the more potentially embarrassing the better. Ralph Fiennes' appearance reading Harry Potter fanfic was covered by dozens of sites including TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, The L.A. Times and Vulture. A post at Crushable mentions a similar recent case in Twilight fandom. While it has been considered poor etiquette for fans to confront celebrities with fan fiction written about them or their projects, the media seems to be setting different boundaries for ratings fodder.

If you're part of My Chemical Romance, Twilight, Harry Potter or Indiana Jones fandoms, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on evolving fandom that might be of interest to fans:

• Lately it appears that every participant in a collective interest is termed a fanboy, whether they enjoy beer or they follow certain religious figures. GamingUpdate attempted to explain the origins of fans citing a radiology study. "Brain areas responsible for emotion, touch, satisfaction, and memory are involved in our reactions for sex and brand loyalty as well as religion." The author concludes that while sex may be the draw, marketers are to blame for the creation of fandoms. "If your encounters with fanboys (and increasingly fangirls as girl gamers grow more confident in their place in the gaming culture and increasingly reveal their true gender to their guildmates and playmates online) often leaves you angry or frustrated with them, at least you now know who to blame: the advertising executives and the people who create the ad campaigns that give birth to those fanboys."
• A recent series of essays suggests that the English Romantic Movement created fandom. "Much as the "market revolution" in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s changed the very nature of cultural consumption and participation, Eisner writes that, in England, the Romantic period of the late 18th century...saw the popularization of recognizable "fan practices," spurred by the growth of consumer culture and the development of a mass audience for culture generally.""
• Perhaps because the series Mad Men deals with the advertising world, its RPG players seem particularly interested in seeing their activities as a professional form of work. Twitter's Betty Draper "Helen Klein Ross established herself as a writer and creative director at top ad agencies like FCB and Ogilvy, but in the last five years she’s reinvented herself as a social media renegade." Ross certainly seems to be keen to stay away from fandom in general, as she claimed that her term "brand fiction" originated at a SWSX presentation given by Mad Men RPG players on Twitter. When an audience member claimed they were performing fan fiction, Ross insisted that it was actually "marketing -- extending the Mad Men story out of the television box and into multiplatforms really markets Mad Men." However, she confessed herself disappointed that AMC chose not to legitmize the Twitter players by utilizing their work in canon.

If you take part in RPGs, or are part of Mad Men or any other fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here at the OTW, things are gearing up for the beginning of the 2012 term! The interwebs are humming with activity and excitement as we get ready to welcome new staff and start the new year's work.

The end of December and the beginning of January was our official hiatus, during which most of our staffers and volunteers* took a well-earned rest (at least in theory)! This is also the time when our committees dissolve and reform, and our hard-working Volunteers and Recruitment Committee sort through all the lists of people who are 'Willing to Serve'. This is the main time for taking on new committee staffers, and is an opportunity for people to step up to new roles (or to step down from old ones). Some people are returning to the committees they have served on before, others are getting ready to try something new, and we have a bunch of new folk joining us! \0/

With the new term, we formally welcome our 2012 Board of Directors: Julia Beck, Francesca Coppa, Ira Gladkova, Kristen Murphy, Naomi Novik, Nikisha Sanders and Jenny Scott-Thompson. We're excited to have another diverse and dedicated Board.

After three years of formal service, Rachel Barenblat and Sheila Lane have become Emeritus Board Members, as have Hele Braunstein and Allison Morris, who stepped down at the end of last term for personal reasons. We thank them all for their hard work on the Board, and we look forward to working with them in other capacities in the future.

One of the first tasks for the new Board was to select committee chairs for the 2012 term. We're thrilled to say that all those invited to serve as chairs have accepted: we have some folk returning for another term as chairs, and a few new faces too. Now that the committee chairs have been appointed, they have been sent the lists of people who are interested in joining their committees, and will be reviewing those over the next few days. If you're a new volunteer for a committee — or if you were a staffer last year and wanted to stay on — you should be hearing from us very soon. If you're volunteering for a non-committee role (such as tag wrangling or coding) you may wait a little longer to hear from the committee who manages that work, as they will need to get up and running.

We're very grateful to everyone, both past and present, who donates their time and skills to the Organization for Transformative Works. You make the magic happen!

Without further ado, Board officers and committee chairs for the 2012 OTW Term. Welcome — or welcome back — to:

OTW Board

Kristen Murphy, President
Jenny Scott-Thompson, Secretary
Julia Beck, Vice-Secretary
Nikisha Sanders, Treasurer
Francesca Coppa
Ira Gladkova
Naomi Novik

OTW Committee Chairs

Abuse
Franzeska Dickson

Accessibility, Design, & Technology
Amelia and Elz

Communications
Claudia Rebaza and Lucy Pearson

Content Policy
Rebecca Tushnet

Development & Membership
Kristen Murphy

Financial
Nikisha Sanders

Internationalization & Outreach
Andrea Horbinski

Journal
Karen Hellekson

Legal
Rebecca Tushnet

Open Doors
Heather Cook

Support
Matty Lynne

Systems
Sidra and Arrow

Tag Wrangling
Alison Watson and Xparrot

Translation
Agnieszka Siemienska and Julia Beck

Vidding
Francesca Coppa

Volunteers & Recruiting
via_ostiense

Webmasters
blue_meridian

Wiki
aethel

Let's get ready to move some more fannish mountains!

* Staffers are the awesome folk who serve on committees and thus make a more formal commitment to the org, which involves working on a fairly consistent basis (at least a couple of hours a week). Volunteers are the awesome folk who also work hard to contribute to the org, but on a more informal basis: they don't usually have to attend meetings, and it's easier for them to dip in and out and contribute as much or as little time as they wish. We love them all — different roles just suit different people and different tasks.

Here's a roundup of stories on collaborative fan activity that might be of interest to fans:

• Comic Book Movie announced that ""The Batman" will be a FANMADE series released on the internet" and asked for suggestions from fans as to the animated movie's content.
• Soaps.com asks for contributions for fan fiction citing the many stalled storylines of cancelled soap series. "We’ve lost so many of our soap operas in the past few years. Fans are missing the soap characters they’ve grown accustomed to seeing each day over the years. With that in mind, Soaps.com decided to bring your beloved characters, and not so beloved characters back to life via Fan Fiction."
• Unleash the Fanboy announced that a new Star Wars fan film was "groundbreaking" because "a group of Spanish-speaking fanboys made a Star Wars themed flick about two lovers…who happen to be stormtroopers."
• The MarySue posted about how a fan film had topped the annual recommendations made by those in the entertainment industry. "Much like The Black List, the Viewfinder List recognizes short form video content and the up and coming helmers responsible for it.”" The live-action short film, Portal: No Escape, got the most recommendations. "Even if you don’t play the video game it’s based on, it’s a really spectacular thing to watch."
• Lastly, Think Progress took note of collaborative fan action on a different front, that of speaking out against SOPA. "I suspect that as fandom becomes an increasingly important basis for identity or community, we’ll see more work and organizations along these lines where the values that motivate service are drawn less explicitly from political parties or religious faith and more from powerful fictional texts."
  

If you write fan fiction are part of Batman, gaming, or soap opera fandom, or have taken a stand against SOPA, why not contribute your fandom experience to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

--written by Rachael Vaughn, OTW Legal Committee

Kirby Ferguson, creator of Everything is a Remix, is standing up for the right to create remix videos. Although the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) exemptions granted in 2010 helped clear some legal hurdles for vidders and other remix artists, these exemptions will expire if not renewed. The OTW is currently working with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to urge the Copyright Office to maintain and reasonably expand the 2010 exemptions. Specifically, OTW and EFF have asked that the Copyright Office protect the right to extract clips from DVDs and other digital sources like Amazon Unbox for the purpose of making non-commercial videos that constitute fair use under US copyright law.

The next step involves the Copyright Office soliciting comments from the public about the proposed exemptions and holding a series of hearings. This is where you can help. OTW and EFF need comments from fans, vidders, remix artists, and others who have a stake in seeing the exemptions granted. You can show your support for the right to remix by...

1. Signing Kevin's Rip.Mix.Make petition; and/or

2. Submitting comments as described in this post from EFF.

Comments are due by February 10, 2012 at 5 PM Eastern Time so don't delay!