Railbird 2004–2019

Media/TV/Film Archive

See This Movie

Congratulations to John and Brad Hennegan! The brothers’ award-winning documentary “The First Saturday in May,” which follows six contenders on the 2006 Kentucky Derby trail, will open in 18 cities on April 18 (and more the week after), thanks to a partnership with Truly Indie and Churchill Downs. Check out the movie’s freshly designed web site to find a theater and view the trailer.

Posted in Media/TV/Film on March 20, 2008

Online Only, Please

A renewal notice for my Blood-Horse subscription popped up in the mail the other day. It’s been sitting on my desk since, as I waffle on re-upping for another year.
Here’s the thing — and I say this as someone who started out in print media, is an inveterate book collector, and subscribes to many magazines and little journals — I don’t want any more print in my life.
I don’t need any more print, unless it offers me something that can’t be found online — and that’s not quite the case with the Blood-Horse. Sure, I like looking at the farm ads, and the “Newcomers” list, but I’ve already read most of the content in each week’s issue by the time it arrives — on the web. The one argument for subscribing I can muster is access to BloodHorseNow.com, which is an attractive, usable site with most of the news and data I’ve come to rely on from Blood-Horse. I want to renew for that — but that means taking a print subscription, taking 52 more weeks of magazines stuffed with news I already know cluttering up my tiny New York apartment.
Dear Blood-Horse, I’d like to resubscribe. But online only. Sell me a subscription to your superb BloodHorseNow.com that doesn’t include the magazine — say, for $49. Or for $69 if I want a copy of the Stallion Register. But please — don’t make me subscribe to your print magazine anymore.
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To be fair, if I read Blood-Horse solely online, I would have missed the letter to the editor in the March 15 issue written by Man o’ War biographer Dorothy Ours about the Breeders’ Cup changes announced last month. Excerpts below:

Agreed, which is why a few of us launched a petition calling for the Breeders’ Cup to either restore the name of the Distaff or rename the race the Filly & Mare Classic, create a fans’ committee, and consider alternate Breeders’ Cup schedules. Add your name to the petition today!

Posted in Media/TV/Film on March 20, 2008

Now Playing on Hulu

TVG. The racing network has launched a broadband division and uploaded a selection of evergreen trainer and jockey profiles and handicapping clips to the favorably-reviewed video site, which attracted a bit of buzz at SXSW when it was announced Monday that the site would come out of private beta this week. You might be thinking this is no big deal, but Hulu is no YouTube. Content isn’t user-generated, it’s original programming from NBC Universal and a raft of other providers — including the NHL, NBA, and Fox — and despite some shortcomings — such as no downloads or international access — the site is a pretty remarkable web service, pointing the way premium on-demand video is going online and offering significant potential for attracting an audience to racing — so long as the content is compelling.

Posted in Media/TV/Film, Racing & Technology on March 13, 2008

Now in the Netflix Queue

“The Killing,” filmed at Bay Meadows, directed by Stanley Kubrick, recommended by Bill Christine (via Equidaily).

Posted in Media/TV/Film on March 3, 2008

Paulick, Blood-Horse Part

The Thoroughbred Times reports that Ray Paulick has left Blood-Horse, where he was editor-in-chief since 1992 and oversaw all of the magazine’s editorial products, including the recently launched web venture Blood-Horse NOW. No comment, no details from Paulick or Blood-Horse.

Posted in Media/TV/Film on August 22, 2007