Mar 1, 1998 12:00 PM

HDTV Rebel

By Debra Kaufman

| NEW MEDIA

| HDTV Rebel

a2b or Not to Be?

The Players

ITV: Why Cable Is Lining Up for Another Potential Beating

The Blind New Science of Making Babies

London Calling

Postmodern Muse

The City Is an Advertisement

<h4>#### ve years after founding one of the first high-definition production houses, Barry Rebo emerges as a leader of the suddenly fast-growing field.</h4 Aanuary's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, brand-new HDTV sets were everywhere, fed by a continuous stream of high-definition television programming from the three big names in high definition: CBS, PBS, and … Rebo Studio. With its 125 hours of long-form HD programming, Rebo Studio – a 12-person production house in Manhattan founded by Barry Rebo – is ostensibly the biggest producer of HD programming in the US, from commercials and music videos to Life Adventures</em Turner Original Programming and the documentary ssage to Vietnam.</em

Rand his loyal cadre of HD enthusiasts have been producing HDTV programming since 1986, at a time when most Americans hadn't even heard of NTSC, the current broadcast standard. But Rebo has been ahead of the curve his entire video career, accumulating what he calls "a healthy record of firsts," starting with dropping out of Stanford University's graduate film school and flying to Japan to buy the first-ever portable color video equipment. He launched Rebo Associates in 1975, dedicated to "film-style" video storytelling.

Lmany a video storyteller, Rebo had the bug to tell stories in celluloid. So, in 1986, when he saw the astonishing imagery of an HDTV program transferred to 35-mm film, he thought it so "revolutionary" that he plunked down US$1.5 million for the first Sony HD camera and editing packages sold in the US.

"e never wavered from my belief that high-definition TV will be a big part of the imaging industry," says Rebo. "I just didn't foresee the politics and dramatic changes in technology."

Te technopolitical debates stalled HDTV for nearly 10 years – from 1987 to 1996 – but Rebo kept the faith through those difficult, often lean times. In fact, it was a productive period at Rebo Studio. His technical gurus Barry Minnerly and Abby Levine created ReStore, which enables any Macintosh imaging software to run in HD, while his studio kept churning out HDTV programs, some of which – like 's Fire,</emuppet fantasy-drama by Julie Taymor made for the late PBS showcase "American Playhouse" – garnered critical acclaim.

Wthe FCC mandate for TV networks to broadcast HDTV starting this year, Rebo at last can stop pushing that rock up the hill and look forward to getting down to the business of producing HDTV programming and equipment.

"rybody's always saying I'm a pioneer," he remarks. "Our new slogan is 'Once a pioneer, today the expert.'"

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Last r music pirates took to the Web in droves to download MP3-compressed CD-quality singles for free. This state of affairs kept most record companies out of cyberspace. The few that did venture online found themselves mired in lawsuits against online bandits.

Ahas stepped in with a spin-off company, a2b music, that pairs compression algorithms and encryption technologies to offer sterling-quality singles over the Net. For speedy delivery, the collectibles are 50 percent smaller than normal audio files.

aars to be successfully treading the tightrope between consumers, artists, promoters, and retailers. Its security features protect against theft while allowing flexible licensing such as single, multiple, or shared uses of files. Customers pay a small fee – usually a dollar or less each – for these musical gum balls.

aan impressive collection of record companies have flocked to the service, including Transworld, N2K, Camelot Music stores, and BMG Entertainment, the US$6.3 billion distributor of Arista, RCA, and Windham Hill labels. Most important, a2b has attracted a long roster of artists. "We're not trying to dictate to the industry," notes CTO Howie Singer. "But it's our intention to make this work for everybody."

Nmay be a hot new distribution method for music, but the payoff for record companies will come with bulk shoppers. After a singles trial, several labels plan to launch full Web CD releases.

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red onagain with the sharp-witted Garry Trudeau (right) of Doonesbuem> fame, t Altman is turning his discerning lens on the high tech industry. The last time these two teamed up was to create the HBO miniseries Tanner 8m>, an bamed and edgy chronicle of a fictional presidential campaign. Their latest small-screen venture, Killer Aem>, inclu "colorful cast of characters, with Silicon Valley as the backdrop," says Andrew Steinberg of the production firm Kushner-Locke. The live-action, one-hour weekly series is in early stages of development and may air on ABC this fall.

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ears ar interactive television fizzled into vaporware, the cable industry is at it again. Executives are talking tough. Equipment makers are bullish. Bill Gates and other cybergeeks are pushing software and operating systems. Even TCI chair John Malone, who prematurely predicted a "500-channel universe," is talking up a storm. "I haven't been this excited since Universal gave us Jaws on," M recently proclaimed. Why does

le industry now appear ready for another potential beating? The answer is one of economics, better technology, and the Internet. On the e

mfront, digital converters that once cost thousands are now a few hundred dollars. In December, TCI inked a multibillion-dollar deal with General Instrument for up to 12 million boxes. GI then turned around and agreed to sell a US$187.5 million chunk of itself to Sony. Meanwhile, the industry's research arm, CableLabs, is establishing a set-top standard, further driving down prices. In terms

tnology, the options have diversified – from simplistic software that pumps data through the TV's vertical blanking interval to network computers that offer video email. Companies like WorldGate, Interactive Channel, and Wink Communications – as well as behemoths like Microsoft, Sun, and Oracle – are making hard sells. And then

rthe Internet. TCI, Cox, and Comcast have partnered with @Home Network, an Internet cable-modem company. Time Warner and @Home rival MediaOne have joined forces. And don't forget Microsoft, whose $1 billion investment in Comcast warmed Wall Street to broadband cable. The cabl

ylso want some of the electronic commerce pie. Malone and others talk of ordering pizza, linking to advertisers' Web pages – all with the click of a remote. So, cabl

tsts argue, a lot has changed since the last run at interactivity. Now they're just hoping that the best thing since Jaws dot eam for lunch – again. Duh-dum duh-dum. By E

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wer of#### ical technology has been embraced by corporate and political America, and by journalism, the pliant cousin of both. By Jon Katz</h4> For a revea lat the American media's schizophrenic and dysfunctional relationship with technology, as well as morality and medical ethics, we need go no further than the ongoing celebration in Carlisle, Iowa. The November

pover the birth of the McCaughey septuplets is nothing compared with what's to come: The family's move into their new, community-funded home. Free trips to Disneyland and Sea World. The seps going to school, falling in love, getting married, going to college and – to be witnessed by those of us still alive – making child-rearing decisions of their own. The dramatic

oration of the new power of medical technology has been enthusiastically embraced by corporate and political America, and by journalism, the pliant cousin of both. The McCaughe

pred on Dateline chng with Pauley and on ABC World News Tht accepting the to a donated new van, as well as on the cover of Newsweek, w Kenny anbi – the latter's teeth digitally enhanced, the red-faced magazine later admitted – announced "We're Trusting in God." They'll need

,o, now that they've brought into the world seven babies they can't possibly care for themselves – he's a clerk at a car dealership, she's a seamstress. The United S

ss odd ethical concerns about technology. Let Johnny log on to the Playboy Web site, and moral watchdogs turn out in force. Let a real thorny issue surface – cloning, genetic engineering, powerful fertility drugs – and there's hardly a guardian in sight. Right here,

uightly newscasts, on magazine covers and newspaper front pages – and in the thoughtless way they're marketed – reckless decisions are mindlessly endorsed by everyone from the president down to the headline writer and presented in simplistic, emotionally manipulative ways. Who, after a

ws to be critical of cute little babies fighting for their lives, or of the deeply religious mother who gave birth to them at the will of no less an authority than God himself? But who spea

oreemies like these in the age of multiplying multiple births? Medical ethicists warn us in vain of the implications of fertility drugs, artificial insemination, surrogate parenting, genetic screening, and cloning. Child-develo

tperts say that having four, five, or six siblings the same age raises all sorts of psychological and developmental challenges. Fertility specialists warn, on those few occasions when they're asked, that the parents of multiple children are rolling dice with their children's lives. If they lose, they could be taking home children with severe deformities. Problems of

ae infants, warned one Massachusetts General Hospital neonatologist, include chronic lung disease, blindness, stroke, cerebral palsy, and long-term learning disabilities. According to experts, for seven normal babies who survive the concern is not so much what is likely to happen as what isn't. In the era o

Oexpensive, complex fertilization and implantation procedures are increasingly available to the poorly insured and the poor, who may not be able to afford basic care and routine medical procedures for multiple children. Meanwhile, millions of dollars are poured into this "brave new science" of making babies. Media covera

fis artificial business leaves elemental questions unresolved. How far can we – should we – go to make babies? Who weighs the cost of this babymaking and baby rearing against the need to attend to more pressing medical matters? Who is responsible for raising and caring for the record number of babies – sure to increase – we can now make? In the conte

fe McCaugheys' lives – their religious background and their close-knit, all-American community – we were presented with a happy miracle. But it might

e been one. In modern-day America, we have so far opted to let technology decide moral issues for itself. By Debra

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m Compin Culver City, California, DreamWorks SKG producers eye digital effects for the upcoming feature Paulie on a mon and ds changes with the artists. Just a typical day in Hollywood – except that the images and the digital artists creating them are nearly 6,000 miles away in London. What makes this

tance creative collaboration possible is Sohonet, a digital pipeline between the two far-flung cities that just opened for transatlantic business. Digital networki

sthing new, but until now it's been the sole domain of big-budget filmmakers. Sohonet makes it as easy and routine as a phone call. According to managing director Neil Harris, Sohonet is the brainchild of staff at digital-effects and postproduction facilities clustered in London's media-hot Soho neighborhood. Four years ago, ATM was an untried technology in the film business, but in late 1995 five companies hooked up to give it a try. Once united, Sohonet turned its sights to Hollywood. "For Hollywood studios that have offices in London," says William Sargent, executive director of Megalomedia, "Sohonet is the potential umbilical cord." For now, only tr

ttic Cinesite and Computer Film are able to easily use the service. Future network upgrades will support videoconferencing, higher-resolution files, and a direct connection to major USstudios, ad agencies, and production companies. "There's not eno

ccity in LA to satisfy the huge appetite for effects work," reveals Harris. "We hope to help take away some of the strain." By Colin Ber

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identihis musical spiritual center, and he's as likely to point to Miles Davis or Johnny Cash as Salif Keita. Before producing records for such artists as Thomas Dolby and 999, Brill grew up in a "secular" New York household. Ironic, then, that Brill's discovery in a friend's attic of a stack of 78s – discs featuring Jewish liturgical singers from the 1920s to the '50s – has resulted in The Covenant, a mosiritual, androversial, pop CD. Recorded from the 78

dansferred into electronic files, songs feature cantors Pierre Pinchik, Samuel Malavsky, and others, their hazzanut delivered divinit soaring praise. Loops of indigenous percussion and vocals surge to an electronic beat. Though its words are undeniably Hebrew, the disc savors musical styles associated with Muslim and Buddhist faiths and stirs in some New Age philosophy and native rhythms. Temple cantors once sang in opera halls, Brill explains, but now he is delivering them – via digital media and aboriginal instrumentation – to a contemporary audience. Surprisingly, Brill'

ut critics are old-school Jewish cantors. Some contemporary cantors have labeled his smorgasbord "primitive"; others have simply suggested he not mess with the past. "I get a lot of criticism because I use Deepak Chopra on the record," says Brill between bites of bagel, "but he's got a lot to say – namely that we're in a realm of all possibilities and have the power to bring things into being." Brill claims to find

iy in all sounds. "All music is spiritual – even the Spice Girls," Brill grins, "though for me, they don't speak as divinely as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan." By Chris Rubin</

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iers odvertising take advantage of captive audiences: consumers at the gas pump and the cash machine. Electronic Data Systems has begun testing 15-second spots on 150-plus ATMs in the San Diego area. Rio Network of Raleigh, North Carolina, beams ads to USgas pumps via satellite. While pump ads are limited mostly to LCD readouts, EDS goes higher tech at ATMs, with full-color video ads and movie clips. Do consumers mind the intrusion? Rio's Dick Diemer says no, so long as it's brief. After all, he adds, "people don't like to stop for gas in the first place."