Comments on: Cafe Confidential, the Best of the Bad

By: Valerie Z. Kobylarczyk

Valerie Z. Kobylarczyk — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:11:41 +0000

The next time you are in London, you will do well to head over to Stonebridge and check out the Ace Cafe. This one-of-a-kind landmark is sure to take you back to the rock and roll generation of the 1950's, when the cafe racer culture was in full swing.

By: susan Rasanen

susan Rasanen — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:22:45 +0000

I think Steven Bocho,s “C.C.”, is “great”. It,s fun to watch. If your bored, it,s the perfect site, to sit down with. It picks you up, and has something for everyone. There, s adorable animals, funny stories, some are hilarious, and “pretty” ladies, for the men out there, and some of the women, too. Ha! ha!, It,s just great fun, and I think it,s “wonderful”, that he,s trying something differen,t that everyone can enjoy, with a smile. Kudos 2 u Steven B., and keep up the good, work.

By: NewTeeVee » Old Media (Dons), New Medium

NewTeeVee » Old Media (Dons), New Medium — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:55:25 +0000

[...] Steven Bocho, the man behind the now painfully long in the tooth NYPD Blue is now working with Metacafe on a new series called Cafe Confidential. (NTV says) [...]

By: Steve Bryant

Steve Bryant — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:23:15 +0000

Am I the only one who thinks Cafe Confidential is kinda cool? Although the confessions are PG-13, and although you can find much more salacious fare distributed across the Web, the stories are titillating in a way that MTV's The Real World (overproduced to the point of, well, fiction) hasn't been in years.

Everybody says the Web is amenable to short form cinema. Well, this is vérité as one-night stand.

Maybe the only thing new is Bochco's imprimatur. But it's hard to think he could go wrong betting on sex. After all, Eisner and co. are doing it with Vuguru's "Prom Queen," and don't tell me R.J. Cutler isn't banking on teen sexuality for the "Facebook Diaries."

By: Aaron Cohen

Aaron Cohen — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:32:10 +0000

Zell is absolutely right. Bochco puts a hour or two into the Internet and becomes relevant by coming down to MetaCafe's typically juvenile standards. The future will be the well-produced content and that's where Bolt will now play.

Jackson, what a killer missive. Bochco's first effort is shocking given who he is in television history. It's almost as if Metacafe forced him to do something pathetically juvenile.

Metacafe seeks legitamacy but their first effort is a name-brand version of their softcore sensibility.

By: zell

zell — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:23:29 +0000

In a nutshell, we all expected more of Mr. Bochco. He gets to say he's now producing internet television (wow, how hip and leading edge, in the circles he travels in)...but, he hasn't devoted an ounce of time or effort in this direction.

Using this medium to tell stories, for the vast range of niche audience/communities out there is what we're waiting for...people still like stories, it's getting them funded that's the issue. As soon as someone produces story-driven content for this medium and makes money (not uses the medium as a glorified showreel to land a job; or as a platform to drive audiences to "old" tv shows).

There have been hints of this with a couple of shows in the past few months (alamoheightsSA being the most ambitious) -- the forthcoming Eisner-backed series ("Prom" something) looks like a solid effort (compared to Bochco's).

There are going to be some "professional" content producer announcements in this space soon -- new alliances from "old" storytellers (who have tired of the Network deals). I'd watch for that, just as much as watching for the 20-somethings to pop up and turn this into a business.

By: Jackson West

Jackson West — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:47:33 +0000

Thanks for the optimism, Doug. I needed it. Can’t wait for “Minivan Potemkin” by some Camkid Eisenstein.

By: doug

doug — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 23:51:19 +0000

I think what may be happening is the equivalent of the surge in authors following the ability to mass produce printed media. The last century was one in which the masses gained a kind of visual art literacy (reading). The creation of the art was still in the hands of a few well guarded professionals. The webcam revolution is just the beginning of the public learning to be literate at the video author level (writing).

Let’s not forget the penny dreadful first steps of motion pictures. For a while things are going to be ugly. What we need is the online equivalent of Chaplin. When that creator finally shows up, UGC will hopefully get a much needed jolt and the results will be a new crop of Capra and Welles caliber online creators.

This sounds pie in the sky now. But, it may happen sooner than analysts think due to the link between Moore’s Law and digital video production. Film had no Moore’s Law. Expect things to move at an exponential pace rather than the typical incremental.