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To All...
This came off the RB board. Seems to be an email from Eagle Broadband confirming VWKM"s contract with them......
Lets try to hold our shares as the MM's want us to panic
GLTA
http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=VWKM&read=3864
This guy looks like a great connection into the industry.....
GLTY
you got that right......... too funny.....
GLTY
Well, IMO either this company is going to fly or its one of the biggest scams yet. LOL
Lets see, for the short version. First off, IF is a very hot market now. At face value (what they are saying) and just the contracts they have to date announced, they will be about a 75-100 mil a year company. Ok lets filter some BS and be conservative lets take what they say and divide by 2. That will make it around say, a 40 mil a year company at just where we are at now!
If they can add more contracts you may see double the rev's. Right now they only have 3 personnel so overhead isnt a factor. ( unless the salarys are out of this world)
Maybe the startup costs are high right now, new buildout/ setup of building, rent, down payments, film awards, new equipment costs etc., etc.. But once SOP sets in you should see the money out-flow stablize and the revs increase.
Heck, just their monthly rev's as per PR's are more than some yearly revs for some of these penny companies. Factor in MM manipulation and the pps is struggleing to take off, right now. I dont think it can stay down here forever.
Dilution is bad right now, (be nice if it stopped) but kind of can be expected with no rev's yet.
The light will be turned on in april / may when they can start reporting to shareholders what the revs really are.
Of course this is my opinion and the way I see it only, please do your own DD.
Remember, its your money - your decision........
GLTY and GLTA
I think this is the MM shake out ......
This will run.....
GLTA
Tried to fill at 2 all day yesterday without success. Will try again today but I don't think it will. 2's may be close to gone.
No, I would never say you or anyone should't post here or anywhere for that matter. But to me it seems, whats the point? Unless you have a position in the stock as it seems some people may not have.
You mention CNES, I like and I am in that position, and there are bashers on that chat board too. Do you listen to them? Now, if you compare the very faint evidence of operations you can say that it is a scam too.
Lets face it, all pennys seem to be a scam one way or another.
I think if you own a position in the stock, yea let it roll positive or negative as you are all in it together. But if not, then it seems you ARE trying to influence a person or persons from discussion or reaearch about the stock. Like I said, Whats the point? Got nothing better to do? No date?
Now if people were to listen to every basher on every board....... Ahhhh USXP comes to mind, I made 75k on that stock.... as full of crap as it seems.. everyone would just bail and forget it. But thats not the game is it.
With all due respect to everyone here, you can find negative in ANYTHING....... the military, the church, the gov, your wife, your husband, your dog, etc. etc. but they all have their place in what it is at the time of your involvement, no more no less.
Constructive discussion on these boards helps everyone.
No position bashing helps no-one.
BTW, What IS up with those pics?? Who cares?
It looks as if its personal.
JMHO
GLTA
Wow ! Insane.
If it isn't your money what do you care? If I want to light cigars with $100.00 bills,Its ok because its my money! If I want to give some homeless guy my car, Its ok because its MY CAR! If people want to gamble on a super long shot at the track, Its ok because its their money! And if adults want to gamble on penny stock which is probably the same as lighting cigars with $100.00 Bills
ITS OK BECAUSE ITS THEIR MONEY!! not yours....... so unless your inviting people over to your place to get involved with your life and tell YOU how to live. Which is what you are doing here. Please give it a break.
You all seem to have some good brains in all of the chaos.
I have a question for all the bashers and you know who you are. You are all very research minded and spend LOTS of time in this arena. I ask you, what penny's do you recommend????
Thanks.
GLTA
I think we are at the hardest part of our long position, impatient and frustrated, making assumptions etc..
I personally, foolish or not am going to see this through.
Bank or broke. I came this far.... "NO FEAR"
I'll see where I'm at when the smoke clears.
LOL.
GLTA
Go....VWKM
Somebody is messing with our heads......
GLTA
wow and the last trade is............. lolol
Maybe a new swimming pool behind the offices?
lol
Sorry couldn't resist
did somebody call the station and find out whats the dump for?
I totally agree.
Check out my post 2192. Its an article on china's film market and their hungry demand for good production with chinese content.
Its wide open.... isn't that what vwkm's Colorfield studio is for?????
Once the rev's start to flow send some decent producers there and run some decent film, in the meantime get in a trial market in one of the bigger cities and see what happens. Sort of like what HBO did, first they ran other peoples movies then they started to make their own productions. We all know where they went from there.
GLTY....
Heres a recent article from Ocala about New Screen and VWKM.......
Good read......
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/NEWS/203270356/1001/NEWS01
Hummm I dont know. At any rate GZFX is a very good stock to be long into IMO.
I think VWKM will be the next RSHN or GZFX or better if Astrom stays on course. I believe now he is growing into the big leagues and he has to start acting like a big company for continued success. If he plays his cards right theres a whole untapped China market whose film industry is in dissarray and needs good productions that reflects China and her 1 Billion customers. hehehe
If after he sets up these existing US contracts and IMO he can tap some of the Latin American areas. Erickson has a lot of experiance and contacts in the industry there. He can work toward China and Asia at that point.
From his no RS -PR's Im hoping that he sees the big picture and understands the fact that shareholders will be key to growth and if you take care of them they will take care of the company. JMHO of course.
Much luck to ya!
GLTA.......... Go VWKM !
Sorry, but I did say A/S ........
See item 5.03
But its no worries........
GLTA
27-Mar-2006
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Amendments to Articles of Inc. or Byla
ITEM 1.01 ENTRY INTO A MATERIAL DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT
On March 22, 2006, the Company entered into a definitive Co- Marketing Agreement with Circuit City Stores, Inc. (see Exhibit 10). In the fourth calendar quarter of 2005, the two companies tested offering the GameZnFlix services at a limited number of Circuit City Superstores and online at circuitcity.com. After concluding the tests, the services will now be expanded under the Co-Marketing Agreement to include Circuit City Superstores across the United States and will continue to be available nationwide on Circuit City's website. The agreement calls for adding locations each month until full deployment is reached prior to the 2006 holiday season.
The agreement calls for a nationwide rollout of GameZnFlix's service by offering prepaid service cards at each of Circuit City's retail stores. Under the terms of this agreement, the parties will share in the revenue from the sale of Company memberships through Circuit City.
Attached is a press release issued in connection with this agreement (see Exhibit 99).
ITEM 5.03 AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OR BYLAWS; CHANGE IN FISCAL YEAR
On March 21, 2006, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation with the Nevada Secretary of State (see Exhibit 3). This amendment, which did not require shareholder approval under the Company's Articles of Incorporation, as amended, increased the authorized common stock of the company to 25,000,000,000 shares.
ITEM 9.01 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibits.
Exhibits included are set forth in the Exhibit Index pursuant to Item 601of Regulation S-B.
O/S counts of course but shouldn't be to much of a worry. Look at gxfx 25B A/S and that hit a penny with MIN REVENUE. Once April 1 hits we are golden.
Our MONTHLY revenues can buy back shares in a couple of months. JMHO
GLTA
Here we gooooooooo........ no-where but the skys the limit....
Im in RSHN too so im crusin , like I said we shall meest in maui soon - one of my favorite places....
GLTA
Wow look at the vol.! Vol. preceeds price so I hope tomorrow we turn on big time with price.
She can't take much more Capt. she's gonna blow, as scotty would say. lol
Roger that.
Maybe someone could call Eagle act like a consumer and ask if there will be any IF channels in the future. DD. I don't think VWMK could risk the law suits for fraud from Eagle, and OEN if the PR's werent true.
For what its worth I think the best way to blast this thing into the next level would be a few more good PR's this week then announce a stock buyback plan ( a real one, lol ) as revenues roll in. That would bring the credibility back to the company. This would all be verifiable by stockholders and potential stockholders. A buy in from a know celebrity would be a great help, sort of like EBOF. Maybe George Clooney or someone who supports IF.
JMHO.
GLTA
Go VWKM............
IMO. This baby is set to explode. Way under the radar right now. At face value we are in better position than gzfx, cnes etc. we have contracts, we have more monthly revenue than some companies generate in a year!!!! We have a working studio.
Hold, Hold, Hold we will see a rocket when people get smart.
Remember Erickson is the key, he has old connections in the industry with a new in demand product. We want to be the leader in the industry. See you in Maui !!!! LOL
GLTA
A New day may be dawning for all penny stocks.............
OT: Naked Shorting hits 60 Minutes, Congress to Hold Hearings on Hedge Funds, and Unbiased Journalism? – March 24, 2006
David Patch
Fifteen Minutes of What NBC’s Dateline left in the Cutting Room Floor
To think, it has now been an eternity since NBC’s Dateline chocked on their exclusive story regarding a Wall Street scandal they once considered calling “Financial Terrorism in the US.” The reported multi-part series on illegal shorting and securities fraud that Dateline spent better than a year preparing for was reduced to a 15-minute fluff piece that was hardly worth the effort. Many believe the trimming down stemmed from self-preservation on behalf of NBC parent General Electric (NYSE: GE) fearing Wall Street retaliation.
That story of financial terrorism will reportedly unfold before your eyes but this time through a direct competitor to NBC. CBS’ 60 Minutes will air this Sunday March 26 with their own version of what lies in hiding within our securities markets. The stories the financial press have so far shied away from coverage on or covered from a singular side. The 60 Minutes storyline:
BETTING ON A FALL – Investment pools for the very rich are known as hedge funds. One of the major ones is being accused of spreading negative information about a major company and then betting on its falling stock price. Lesley Stahl reports. Janet Klein is the producer.
This is must see TV (isn’t that an NBC line) for anybody that doubts the reality of market abuses leveraged off unscrupulous Hedge Funds willing to go to great lengths to turn a profit.
Recall earlier this month the SEC fined Bear Stearns $250 Million for aiding Hedge Funds (prime brokerage customers) in illegal trading strategies. Excerpts from the SEC Complaint include:
Linda Chatman Thomsen, SEC Enforcement Division Director, said, "For years, Bear Stearns helped favored hedge fund customers evade the systems and rules designed to protect long-term mutual fund investors from the harm of market timing and late trading.”
“On the clearing side, BSSC gave introducing brokers and prime brokerage customers with mutual fund trading business direct access to its mutual fund order entry system. This system permitted users to enter orders until 5:45 p.m. and processed all trades, regardless of when they were actually received, as if they had been received before 4:00 p.m.”
In layman’s terms, Bear Stearns gave their preferred clients the combination to the vault and then walked away. It was a conspiracy aimed at cheating the investing public while insuring the Hedge Funds maintained profitable returns to their wealthy clients.
Those producers at NBC and CNBC should watch and learn what financial journalism is all about. CNBC’s coverage to date has been to vilify any and all that dare challenge the Hedge Fund Community. Now why is that?
Hedge Funds to meet with Senate Banking Committee
The Senate Banking Committee has announced that on March 28, 2006 public hearings will be held with members of the Hedge Fund Community as well as market regulators to discuss the impacts Hedge Funds have on the global financial community. Is this more politicking or is it more of the too little too late syndrome we have seen comes before us by this committee?
Members of the Senate Banking Committee have been lobbied for years to investigate the Hedge Fund Community and how they have abused the short sale process to profit at the expense of small business leaders, local communities, and investors across the globe. The lobbyists seeking the hearings were the under-funded US people of this nation some representing the constituency of the Senate Committee Members. As a result of the lack of lobbying funds, rumored hearings were continually being squashed by Committee Chair Richard Shelby (R: AL) as the financial community lobbied against such hearings.
Concern over the effectiveness of this hearing is based on the attendees who will be represented and the agenda.
According to a report out of the Financial Times, It is believed that the hearings will aim to improve communications between hedge funds and legislators. In attendance will be John Gaine, president of the Managed Funds Association and Jim Chanos, head of the Coalition of Private Investment Companies and founder of Kynikos Associates, $3 billion hedge fund. Also reportedly included in attendance will be Emil Henry, the assistant Treasury secretary for Financial Institutions.
The hearings will be a bust, in my opinion, if the Hedge Funds are merely afforded the opportunity to come in and explain how they are good for our markets. Without significant counter-parties available to challenge the Hedge Funds the Committee will not see the overall market picture and thus act out change with only a portion of the facts.
Recent SEC and NASD enforcement activities have centered on the special privileges afforded these Hedge Funds by the Financial Institutions. From Bear Stearns handing over the combination to the vault in order to illegally trade, to Market Makers illegally shorting on behalf of Hedge Funds, and now possible Hedge Fund collusion with market Analysts involving “hatchet job” reports aimed at collapsing security valuations the Hedge Fund Community appears to have an inside track on how to effectively move markets for personal profiteering.
It could be a bad day on Capital Hill if the Banking Committee simply allows those that are possibly destroying our markets to speak freely about how they believe they are the best thing our markets have ever seen.
Out of an article in InvestorsOffshore.com pertaining to this hearing “Jochen Sanio, head of German financial supervisor BaFin, has revealed that he is ‘scared as hell’ of the influence that hedge funds now exert over the financial markets, and cited them as the number one threat to global financial stability with their risky and often highly leveraged positions.”
Let’s just hope our Congress Men and Women on this side of the Ocean take this threat just as seriously.
An Inside Look at your Typical Journalism Conference?
Finally, from the world of unbiased Journalism,
One of the major critics in the SEC Subpoena on financial journalists SABEW (Society of American Business Editors and Writers) will host their annual conference on May 1. SABEW has identified that Chairman Chris Cox will be a guest of the Conference to address the subpoena issue as well as corporate malfeasance and other issues when he speaks at the SABEW conference.
SABEW has gone on record as criticizing the San Francisco Office of the SEC while patting Chairman Cox on the back for backing off the subpoenas for the time being. Not understood is whether Chairman Cox first approved these subpoenas as part of normal course of business and then backed off due to “political pressures.” Maybe the financial press in attendance at the Conference can spawn an answer from the Chairman on that particular open issue.
Leading the headlines in the press release SABEW claimed that Chairman Cox rebuked his enforcement staff for not consulting him before sending out the subpoenas. But reports out of Chairman Cox himself have not supported these allegations and comments by Commissioner Campos in his March 3 speech during the “SEC Speaks Conference” further identify that the media has misrepresented the facts in drawing to their own conclusions.
Campos’s comments on this matter included a rebuke of his own: “In my view these statements have been incorrectly interpreted in the media and in the public to indicate that our Enforcement Staff did something wrong.” Campos concluding his remarks by stating, “Finally, it goes without saying, no one is above the law. If in any matter it is important for the integrity of the investigation to enforce a subpoena, it will be done through appropriate legal process of the federal court system, without hesitation.”
Whether Chairman Cox addressees the realities of the issue or plays the politician to the end must be decided after his speech on May 1.
Also listed as speaking is Herb Greenberg. In the press release by SABEW, Herb Greenberg, a MarketWatch columnist and one of the reporters subpoenaed by the SEC, will discuss the subpoenas and other tactics to intimidate investigative reporters in a panel discussion. He'll be joined by Joseph Nocera, a New York Times columnist, and Dan Colarusso, business editor of the New York Post. Dave Beal, columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, will moderate the panel.
What we know of this panel is that Herb Greenberg has received a subpoena by the SEC in which it is yet to be decided whether Greenberg is a target in the SEC’s case or not. Herb will be a panelist nonetheless to tout his own personal agenda.
Also on this panel is Joe Nocera of the NY Times and Dan Colarusso of the NY Post. Nocera drafted an article that blasted the SEC for their actions, as did the business writers for the NY Post. Are you getting the picture of this panel?
So unless I am missing something a Panel all committed to one side of the pendulum is not really a panel after all. The panel will be nothing short of self-serving rhetoric that can be presented as fact without the hindrance of a challenge. It should be a hoot to hear in Herb’s own words how Herb Greenberg has been victimized one more time.
I wonder if anywhere in this conference somebody within the crowd will have the courage to step up and address the financial presses stronghold on what is being disclosed to the mainstream public. Clearly Commissioner Campos was not impressed with their latest coverage and so it was left unreported. Also left unreported, Commissioner Atkins comments on March 3 when he stated “Fraud in this market manifests itself through old-fashioned boiler-rooms with hard-sell cold-calling; new tactics such as cyber-smear or the infamous voicemail that was supposedly incorrectly left on machines giving a bogus stock "tip; and bear raids composed of an unholy alliance of abusive short sellers, stock promoters, class-action lawyers, and others.”
Cyber-smear can easily fall into journalism and bear raids composed of an unholy alliance of abusive short selling goes right to the heart of the 60 Minutes program and the reason behind the subpoenas served to members of the financial press.
So why has most of the investing population never heard these comments? Could it be that the financial press is not as unbiased as they present themselves to be? Maybe the better question would be, what else have the financial press refused to present to the general population and why?
Heres a whole untapped market............
Asian directors struggle to connect
By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop International Herald Tribune
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006
SINGAPORE The irony of Ang Lee's winning the Oscar for best director - making him the first Asian director to get that award - is not lost on Asia's filmmakers. For all the praise that Asian independent film directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang or Wong Kar-wai are gathering on the international festival circuit and in Hollywood, there is a starker reality back home: Asian filmmakers are having problems connecting with their own audiences.
Despite a potential audience of more than a billion, the Chinese film industry as a whole, in its various homes, is in crisis.
This is not a new problem, and the enormous popularity of Hollywood productions is of course a major reason. The situation, however, seems to be getting worse, despite various regional attempts to get attention for Asian films, notably the creation of festivals and workshops.
"What is lacking in Asia right now is the ability to recognize our audience and serve them first. Many filmmakers are groping in the dark," said the Singaporean director and former film critic Kelvin Tong. "Apart from Korea, North Asian directors are not making films for local audiences."
The industry figures speak for themselves. Hong Kong, once a filmmaking powerhouse that could churn out over 200 films a year, is a shadow of its former self. Last year box office receipts were only 269 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $35 million, down 36 percent from the year before, with the number of local films hitting the screen at an all-time low of 55.
In Taiwan, locally produced films accounted for only 10 percent of the films shown and less than 2 percent of ticket sales in 2005. Even in mainland China, the appetite for Chinese films is not what Chinese filmmakers want.
Some filmmakers point to what they call the immaturity of the independent Chinese film industry, which still suffers from stringent official censorship.
"Most independent films made in China now rely on foreign investment, and, as a result, they are made according to the needs of foreigners, not the needs of Chinese people. The main markets for those films are in Europe, especially France, not China," said Ning Hao, 29, the Chinese director of two critically acclaimed films, "Incense" (2003) and "Mongolian Ping Pong" (2004), which he financed himself.
Several Hollywood studios are currently working on co-productions in China, including Warner Independent Pictures' much talked about "The Painted Veil," starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts; Walt Disney's "The Secret of the Magic Gourd," an adaptation of a Chinese fairy tale; and "The White Countess," with Ralph Fiennes, co-produced by Merchant Ivory Production and Shanghai Film Studios.
Professionals most blame the Asian film industry itself for the decline in support for locally produced films in Asia, along with the competition from American films and the issues of piracy. "In the '70s, there was an onslaught of Hollywood cinema, which stole an entire Asian generation of moviegoers," Tong said. "At that point the West was stronger than the East. They came in not only with dollars and cents, but with a lot of marketing savvy."
Still, the Hong Kong film industry resisted well for a while, producing strings of popular kung fu and gangster movies, until overproduction and formulaic plots started to bore its audience. "Frankly, there isn't much of a film industry left - too many bad films made by incompetent people. At some stage every kung fu expert started to become a director," said the Hong Kong director Lee Kung-lok, who formed an independent production company, Red Flag Productions, with a fellow director, Wong Ching Po.
Lee, Tong and Ning each recently completed films as part of the First Cuts series, a regional project by Focus Films, Andy Lau's Hong Kong-based production company, and were in Singapore to promote their works. The other directors making films for the series are Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), Lam Tze Chung (Hong Kong) and Robin Lee (Taiwan).
While the directors said they were given total creative freedom, they also said that Focus had made it clear the films should relate to Asian audiences. "It's a new breed of commercial filmmaking in Asia. We want to make some meaningful films accessible to the audience," explained Daniel Yu Wai- Kwok, chief operating parnter of Focus.
Lee, the Taiwanese director, feels it is even more important for the new generation of Taiwanese directors to reconnect with their local audience and reverse a trend of gloomy, art- house movies.
Lee's film, "The Shoe Fairy," has just been sold to the Japanese distributor IMX, which has never released a Chinese-language film in Japan.
"I think young Taiwanese directors, like Leste Chen who did 'The Heirloom,' now want to make movies the audience wants to see, and I hope I have the ability to make a commercial film," Lee said.
Starring the Taiwanese star Vivian Hsu and the Hong Kong actor Duncan Lai, "The Shoe Fairy" is a whimsical, romantic drama telling the story of a young woman obsessed with a shoe collection that would make Carrie Bradshaw pale with envy. The film's fairy tale-colored world won a 2005 Golden Horse Award for best art direction and is set for release in Asia in spring.
There are exceptions in the overall gloomy situation. Well-crafted stories, like "Kung Fu Hustle" by Stephen Chow, have shown that Asian films can still draw local crowds into cinemas: It was a winner at the box office throughout the region.
SINGAPORE The irony of Ang Lee's winning the Oscar for best director - making him the first Asian director to get that award - is not lost on Asia's filmmakers. For all the praise that Asian independent film directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang or Wong Kar-wai are gathering on the international festival circuit and in Hollywood, there is a starker reality back home: Asian filmmakers are having problems connecting with their own audiences.
Despite a potential audience of more than a billion, the Chinese film industry as a whole, in its various homes, is in crisis.
This is not a new problem, and the enormous popularity of Hollywood productions is of course a major reason. The situation, however, seems to be getting worse, despite various regional attempts to get attention for Asian films, notably the creation of festivals and workshops.
"What is lacking in Asia right now is the ability to recognize our audience and serve them first. Many filmmakers are groping in the dark," said the Singaporean director and former film critic Kelvin Tong. "Apart from Korea, North Asian directors are not making films for local audiences."
The industry figures speak for themselves. Hong Kong, once a filmmaking powerhouse that could churn out over 200 films a year, is a shadow of its former self. Last year box office receipts were only 269 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $35 million, down 36 percent from the year before, with the number of local films hitting the screen at an all-time low of 55.
In Taiwan, locally produced films accounted for only 10 percent of the films shown and less than 2 percent of ticket sales in 2005. Even in mainland China, the appetite for Chinese films is not what Chinese filmmakers want.
Some filmmakers point to what they call the immaturity of the independent Chinese film industry, which still suffers from stringent official censorship.
"Most independent films made in China now rely on foreign investment, and, as a result, they are made according to the needs of foreigners, not the needs of Chinese people. The main markets for those films are in Europe, especially France, not China," said Ning Hao, 29, the Chinese director of two critically acclaimed films, "Incense" (2003) and "Mongolian Ping Pong" (2004), which he financed himself.
Several Hollywood studios are currently working on co-productions in China, including Warner Independent Pictures' much talked about "The Painted Veil," starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts; Walt Disney's "The Secret of the Magic Gourd," an adaptation of a Chinese fairy tale; and "The White Countess," with Ralph Fiennes, co-produced by Merchant Ivory Production and Shanghai Film Studios.
Professionals most blame the Asian film industry itself for the decline in support for locally produced films in Asia, along with the competition from American films and the issues of piracy. "In the '70s, there was an onslaught of Hollywood cinema, which stole an entire Asian generation of moviegoers," Tong said. "At that point the West was stronger than the East. They came in not only with dollars and cents, but with a lot of marketing savvy."
Still, the Hong Kong film industry resisted well for a while, producing strings of popular kung fu and gangster movies, until overproduction and formulaic plots started to bore its audience. "Frankly, there isn't much of a film industry left - too many bad films made by incompetent people. At some stage every kung fu expert started to become a director," said the Hong Kong director Lee Kung-lok, who formed an independent production company, Red Flag Productions, with a fellow director, Wong Ching Po.
Lee, Tong and Ning each recently completed films as part of the First Cuts series, a regional project by Focus Films, Andy Lau's Hong Kong-based production company, and were in Singapore to promote their works. The other directors making films for the series are Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), Lam Tze Chung (Hong Kong) and Robin Lee (Taiwan).
While the directors said they were given total creative freedom, they also said that Focus had made it clear the films should relate to Asian audiences. "It's a new breed of commercial filmmaking in Asia. We want to make some meaningful films accessible to the audience," explained Daniel Yu Wai- Kwok, chief operating parnter of Focus.
Lee, the Taiwanese director, feels it is even more important for the new generation of Taiwanese directors to reconnect with their local audience and reverse a trend of gloomy, art- house movies.
Lee's film, "The Shoe Fairy," has just been sold to the Japanese distributor IMX, which has never released a Chinese-language film in Japan.
"I think young Taiwanese directors, like Leste Chen who did 'The Heirloom,' now want to make movies the audience wants to see, and I hope I have the ability to make a commercial film," Lee said.
Starring the Taiwanese star Vivian Hsu and the Hong Kong actor Duncan Lai, "The Shoe Fairy" is a whimsical, romantic drama telling the story of a young woman obsessed with a shoe collection that would make Carrie Bradshaw pale with envy. The film's fairy tale-colored world won a 2005 Golden Horse Award for best art direction and is set for release in Asia in spring.
There are exceptions in the overall gloomy situation. Well-crafted stories, like "Kung Fu Hustle" by Stephen Chow, have shown that Asian films can still draw local crowds into cinemas: It was a winner at the box office throughout the region.
SINGAPORE The irony of Ang Lee's winning the Oscar for best director - making him the first Asian director to get that award - is not lost on Asia's filmmakers. For all the praise that Asian independent film directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang or Wong Kar-wai are gathering on the international festival circuit and in Hollywood, there is a starker reality back home: Asian filmmakers are having problems connecting with their own audiences.
Despite a potential audience of more than a billion, the Chinese film industry as a whole, in its various homes, is in crisis.
This is not a new problem, and the enormous popularity of Hollywood productions is of course a major reason. The situation, however, seems to be getting worse, despite various regional attempts to get attention for Asian films, notably the creation of festivals and workshops.
"What is lacking in Asia right now is the ability to recognize our audience and serve them first. Many filmmakers are groping in the dark," said the Singaporean director and former film critic Kelvin Tong. "Apart from Korea, North Asian directors are not making films for local audiences."
The industry figures speak for themselves. Hong Kong, once a filmmaking powerhouse that could churn out over 200 films a year, is a shadow of its former self. Last year box office receipts were only 269 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $35 million, down 36 percent from the year before, with the number of local films hitting the screen at an all-time low of 55.
In Taiwan, locally produced films accounted for only 10 percent of the films shown and less than 2 percent of ticket sales in 2005. Even in mainland China, the appetite for Chinese films is not what Chinese filmmakers want.
Some filmmakers point to what they call the immaturity of the independent Chinese film industry, which still suffers from stringent official censorship.
"Most independent films made in China now rely on foreign investment, and, as a result, they are made according to the needs of foreigners, not the needs of Chinese people. The main markets for those films are in Europe, especially France, not China," said Ning Hao, 29, the Chinese director of two critically acclaimed films, "Incense" (2003) and "Mongolian Ping Pong" (2004), which he financed himself.
Several Hollywood studios are currently working on co-productions in China, including Warner Independent Pictures' much talked about "The Painted Veil," starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts; Walt Disney's "The Secret of the Magic Gourd," an adaptation of a Chinese fairy tale; and "The White Countess," with Ralph Fiennes, co-produced by Merchant Ivory Production and Shanghai Film Studios.
Professionals most blame the Asian film industry itself for the decline in support for locally produced films in Asia, along with the competition from American films and the issues of piracy. "In the '70s, there was an onslaught of Hollywood cinema, which stole an entire Asian generation of moviegoers," Tong said. "At that point the West was stronger than the East. They came in not only with dollars and cents, but with a lot of marketing savvy."
Still, the Hong Kong film industry resisted well for a while, producing strings of popular kung fu and gangster movies, until overproduction and formulaic plots started to bore its audience. "Frankly, there isn't much of a film industry left - too many bad films made by incompetent people. At some stage every kung fu expert started to become a director," said the Hong Kong director Lee Kung-lok, who formed an independent production company, Red Flag Productions, with a fellow director, Wong Ching Po.
Lee, Tong and Ning each recently completed films as part of the First Cuts series, a regional project by Focus Films, Andy Lau's Hong Kong-based production company, and were in Singapore to promote their works. The other directors making films for the series are Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), Lam Tze Chung (Hong Kong) and Robin Lee (Taiwan).
While the directors said they were given total creative freedom, they also said that Focus had made it clear the films should relate to Asian audiences. "It's a new breed of commercial filmmaking in Asia. We want to make some meaningful films accessible to the audience," explained Daniel Yu Wai- Kwok, chief operating parnter of Focus.
Lee, the Taiwanese director, feels it is even more important for the new generation of Taiwanese directors to reconnect with their local audience and reverse a trend of gloomy, art- house movies.
Lee's film, "The Shoe Fairy," has just been sold to the Japanese distributor IMX, which has never released a Chinese-language film in Japan.
"I think young Taiwanese directors, like Leste Chen who did 'The Heirloom,' now want to make movies the audience wants to see, and I hope I have the ability to make a commercial film," Lee said.
Starring the Taiwanese star Vivian Hsu and the Hong Kong actor Duncan Lai, "The Shoe Fairy" is a whimsical, romantic drama telling the story of a young woman obsessed with a shoe collection that would make Carrie Bradshaw pale with envy. The film's fairy tale-colored world won a 2005 Golden Horse Award for best art direction and is set for release in Asia in spring.
There are exceptions in the overall gloomy situation. Well-crafted stories, like "Kung Fu Hustle" by Stephen Chow, have shown that Asian films can still draw local crowds into cinemas: It was a winner at the box office throughout the region.
Go..... VWKM
Heres a link about Vision Works.......
http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2005/11/14/story6.html
GLTA
To all FYI
Interesting Reading.........
Weekly Thoughts: Learn How to Play the Game: Invest Wisely and Trade Smartly
The savvy long-term investors never chase stocks up. For the most part that is
momentum players and daytraders where most of it or what follows is dumb
money. Instead the long-term investors use a couple of simple strategies in
order to position themselves. One is to find a stock no one immediately sees
has huge potential and accumulate. Long-term investors are not interested in
trading against the public mind or the dumb money. That's where the majority
of the money can be made but even more can be made if the base of a stock is
held extremely strong by investors. However the second is not to doubt the
research which is the underlying basis for going long and holding.
More and more investors are winning the game nowadays despite all bashers that
float through the Internet that has become part of the game. Floor traders of
market makers often watch CNBC, news wires and bulletin boards in order to
follow the market during trading session. OTC BB market makers (MMs) don't use
fundamental and technical analysis. However, what they do realize is a lot of
dumb money does use this newest nitch charting or TA (Technical Analysis) to
run a stock either up or down. To the MMs this is like taking candy from a
baby. Simply they will paint the tape and use whatever tactic to affect the
charting bands. Thus the public and dumb money they will have eating out of
their hands. Effectively the MMs can show a strong stock growing weak by
manipulating the close price in order to generate selling volume, delaying
trading time to manipulate trading activities, or even stalling the ask
without honoring orders to hold a stock price.
MMs follow a simple code of business when making a market in a stock
especially an OTC BB. That is the level that stocks will seek that yields the
most volume. Now this is very important because they make money on the volume
buying at the bid and selling at the ask. In other words, by making the market
they are buying low and selling high. Now smart money adheres to that rule, so
do all the market makers. They could careless whether the stock is at $83 or
at $0.23. All they care about is the action thus being able to sell stock at
the offer (The high) and buy stock at the bid (The low). To increase their
profitability, they make the spread as great as possible on as many shares as
they can especially if the volume falls off.
When they have mostly all "buy" orders, that's not the price that's going to
yield the most volume. They need both buy and sells to get the maximum action.
Remember, MMs play the volume. If the volume decreases and there are mostly
Buys that become a one way volume, Buy volume. So what they do is let the
stock run up to a price where it runs out of steam. They fill all the buy
orders there that they can and then comes the pullback one way or another
naturally or induced. During the pull back they can buy tons of shares and
flip them to those averaging down or trying to catch the bounce. At some
price, the stock will be relatively stable and yield the most volume. Now that
is the average price you will see
The average price is the point where a stock seeks a level where MMs can
profit on the most volume. So during the day that is the price that MMs and
momentum/day traders want to see the stock at. Why? Because they know the
public and dumb money was chasing the price thing up. Most of the time, the
MMs love a flurry of Market Orders which is a dead sign of an artificial run
or momentum. Merely it is money in the bank for them. Most get hung in a
momentum or day trade or by the tactics of Market makers, who are in the
business to screw the public every chance they get and the NASD is not going
to do anything about it. They are merely making the market liquid is there
reasoning.
The market makers have created an added complication to the OTCBB's chaos of
the already volatile intra-day price movements created by dumb money, momentum
and day-traders. MMs can not relate to long-term holders in the OTC BB. That
makes absolutely no sense what so ever. They feel a large percentage of trades
in the OTC BB market consist of short-term or day-trades, MMs merely view the
barrage of buy and sell orders as relatively neutral to the market. How they
figure it is when the average dumb money buys shares in a company, the MMs
feel or rather know with some certainty it is very likely that dumb money will
want to sell back those shares relatively quick on the slightest drop.
Now somewhat comfortable with this logic the MMs merely short sells into the
buying and attempts to take the stock down in an effort to "shake out" the
weak. Since it is tough to know for sure whether a move is the beginning of a
trend, or a routine shake out, this type of deception works quite well for the
MMs. What the long-termers do to a stock is surprise the MMs because instead
of falling the shorting has no effect and the price goes up. Now that puts the
MM at selling low through shorting and thus having to buy high in order to
cover.
Boy, when this happens, the MMs are not very happy campers. The investors and
traders are supposed to be doing that no them. Now it becomes time to pull out
every trick and tactic in the book in order to attempt to get a Bear Raid at
every dollar mark or percent from where the stock started. Could be a penny in
smaller priced securities? What MMs do is give you a chance to make a small
amount of money for your momentum and day trading style by shorting it at
these levels and trying to get a bear raid each time. Each failure is
compounding the MMs short position so they let it go to the next level. Now
come more deliberate tactics MMs use to coerce Bear Raid or panic selling.
Once the MM is caught short and the strength of the buy is overpowering the MM
will want to cover his short position. So the MMs call up one of his friendly
MMs and says some like "the weather is sure rough today." The MM along with
the other "friendly MM initiates a down tick about the same time. Now this can
also be done with a certain amount of shares such as an infamous 100 shares
flag. This down tick gives the illusion of weakness designed to hopefully
begin the bear raid of selling. The fickle, fearful, day trader, momentum and
short term begin to sell out allowing the MM to cover his short position at
lower prices. They will move it down quickly to get it to a price of least
financial damage. Problem they have is long-term investors in the OTC BB. They
start accumulating and buying comes flying in when they take it too far thus
the MMs took it to the point of volume again and not only investors the other
MMs step in the make money on the spread.
Alas the poor MM does not get to cover. Now comes various tactics like
stalling, boxing, or even locking the Bid and Ask for a while.
Of course, MMs aggressively deny any sort of collusion designed to fix quotes
or spreads, but a recent SEC investigation tells another story.
MMs have a vast resource of tactics and it would take probably more than my
lifetime to figure them all out.
So how do investors somehow manage to overcome the obvious deception in OTCBB
arena? One answer is indirection trading style by going long which the MMs do
not expect. In the war between investors and public companies on the OTC BB vs
the MMs, if the MMs have all the advantages due to position or other factors,
direct confrontation such as momentum or day trading hitting the stock is a
definite death sentence.
However, an indirect approach tends to weaken the path of least resistance
before slowly overcoming it. The most effective way is long-term investors
slowly accumulating and holding thus drawing the MMs out of its defenses
making them as naked as their short position. This is war so this slow
accumulation and holding for the long term easily achieves the desired effect
to force MMs to cover and knock off the tactics or bury themselves deeper.
The MMs when caught will especially use every trick and tactic in the book to
get a Bear Raid thus playing on the individual fear of most people. The MMs
feel they have information and position advantages over the investors as long
as the holding of the stock is in weak hands or short term holders. Since they
are OTC BB MMs who believe all OTCBB companies are not worth investing and
management is ineffective regardless what is happening within the company.
Furthermore, MMs know they are in the position to impose a great deal of
influence in OTC BB stocks trading when it suits their needs.
This inherent power of position enables the MMs to move the markets at any
time up or down. As a result, the only way to draw them out of their favorable
position is going long. Now this does not mean just any company but to
effectively nail the MMs, Longs must find the great company on the floor and
accumulate long before the MM tactics and games begin.
.
IMO for what its worth I think that whatever happened in the past (mistakes?) are from being on the learning curve. It happens in all startups. But it think now they see they have a very in demand product ( as per recent articles I have read about in the IF industry). A very good IN in the industry (Erickson) and in the right place at the right time. Sooo you have to give them some breathing room to get the job done.
IMO given the amount of scam companies in the pinks, This seems to be one that can actually do it right. It has a market, has a product and has the positioning. Right now with the contracts in place and future contracts in the works what may take place is a HUGH potential for this company to fly. This of course is how the measure of these kind of stocks should be gaged, on their potential!
After all isnt that why we are here and should be how our decisions are made?
Why hasnt this moved yet? IMO I think its a sleeper. Their transition into this expanded idea in the IF industry and new found business just happened in Sept 05.
If you do some DD on the IF market its one of the fastest growing entertainment markets today in a fledging movie and entertainment industry.
If you do some DD on why they moved to Ocala you will find that it was an excellent decision because of the grossly adverse parking situation and expanding rent costs in downtown orlando. I also think the theater they are in now gives the company a touch of class in their business. Like it or not, first impressions are very important when it comes to attracting clients. (Business 101)
Of course there are still many unknowns in the formula (risk factors) but thats what buying shares at .0003 is all about "risk takers and heart breakers". : )
I do not intend to pump or dump any stock, its just the way i see it.
Of course this is only my opinion and please do your own DD and I wish us all the best of luck.
We all see the argument for "no such thing as NNS" but what is this.......?
FYI
Hedge Fund Shells Out in Shorting Probe
By Matthew Goldstein
Senior Writer
3/14/2006 2:19 PM EST
Click here for more stories by Matthew Goldstein
A New York hedge fund manager will pay $16 million to settle allegations arising out of a two-year-old investigation into manipulative trading in the market for private placements by small-cap companies.
The penalty agreed to by Jeffrey Thorp is the largest settlement assessed to date by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the investigation into trading abuses in the $18 billion-a-year market for PIPEs, or private investment in public equity.
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The PIPEs investigation is focusing on allegations of abusive short-selling by hedge funds trying to take advantage of the usual decline in shares of companies that sell these deals.
A short-sale is a market bet that a stock will decline in price.
Securities regulators, in a civil complaint filed in federal court as part of the settlement, charged Thorp with carrying out an illegal short-selling scheme involving 23 separate PIPE deals from 2000 to 2002. Regulators allege Thorp profited by engaging in "naked shorting,'' a manipulative practice that enables traders to defy the laws of supply and demand by shorting even when no shares are available to borrow.
In all, the SEC contends, Thorp generated $7 million in illicit profits from his illegal shorting scheme. As part of the settlement, Thorp agreed to forfeit those profits, plus $1.8 million interest. Thorp and his Langley Partners hedge fund agreed to pay $8 million in civil penalties.
The unlawful trading by Thorp, who could not be reached for comment, took place in PIPE deals by a number of well-known biotech firms: AVI BioPharma (AVII:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), MGI Pharma (MOGN:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) and Generex Biotechnology (GNBT:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take). Other PIPEs that regulators allege Thorp manipulated were ones by HealthExtras (HLEX:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) and TiVo (TIVO:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take).
"This case is an example of our ongoing effort to stamp out fraud and abuses by investors in the PIPEs market, and it will continue,'' says Scott Friestad, associate director in the SEC's enforcement division.
Hedge Fund Shells Out in Shorting Probe
Page 2
The SEC contends Thorp carried out the naked-shorting scheme with the assistance of an unidentified Canadian broker. Over the years, critics of the PIPEs market often have alleged that U.S. hedge funds were carrying out abusive trading strategies in Canada, where the rules against naked shorting were less stringent.
A year ago, U.S. securities regulators, in part because of the PIPEs investigation, took steps to make it more difficult for traders to engage in naked shorting in this country. Friestad says he believes Canada has taken a similar action.
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Regulators say the naked shorting scheme was critical to Thorp's strategy because it enabled him to make short bets on the shares of companies doing PIPE deals, even when no shares were available for him to borrow from a broker in the U.S. The naked shorting, according the complaint, enabled Thorp to "earn larger profits'' when a stock declined in price because he "had no borrowing limitations.''
In other words, the illegal strategy gave Thorp a big advantage over other investors in these PIPE deals who used legal means to short shares as a hedge against a decline in the price.
In a typical short sale, a trader borrows shares from a broker, sells them, and then hopes the stock falls so he can replace his borrowed stock at a lower price. The short-seller makes money by pocketing the difference between the borrowed shares he sold and the ones he purchased.
But in a naked short sale, a trader places short bets without actually borrowing the stock first, or even determining that any shares are available to borrow. This way, naked short-sellers are freed from a key check of the short-sale process -- the need to find willing stock lenders. Critics claim such operations create excessive downward pressure on certain stocks and can create chaos as buyers await undeliverable shares.
Left unchecked, naked shorting can lead to an anomalous situation in which the total number of shares sold short on a stock exceeds its float, or the number of shares available for trading.
Or click on the link here: http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/stocks/brokerages/10273590.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_
Well the way It should work IMO is the company should see its shareholders as assets to a growing company. Not just for the money pipe but also to help promote, inject ideas, sell the product, watch for pitfalls etc. Its like having an army on your side all with the same focus. When many minds focus on the same objectives anything can be achieved. Dreams are a reality at this point. So take care of your shareholders and they will take care of you. Are you listening VWKM? Lets make this great and not another cheap dime novel. GLTA
As I can see it, a reverse split almost NEVER does any good unless its for something like jumping to the other boards and then only if it is done right, like not making the share price too high or too low. We as shareholders should let it be known or clearified with management ( professionally of course) that we are set against it, unless there is a really good reason for it. They may not respond to emails but I bet they read them. IMO GLTL
BTW I am in florida and plan to visit the "main office" when I get a chance. I will report here when I do.