So, not being one to stray from the popular, we’ve decided to jump on board. So, those of you who follow Tweets might want to add “newsaskew” onto your Twitter follow list. The new News Askew Twitter channel will automatically Tweet you an update whenever we post a new story here, along with the headline and a link right over to us. Kind of an alternative to RSS for those of you who prefer it.

We hope some of you can make use of this new feature, as we continue to strive to be on the bleeding edge of web tech! More on the way.

While the neighboring states of New York, Connecticut, & Pennsylvania are all increasing tax incentives to filmmakers, New Jersey Governor Corzine has decided to eliminate funding for the New Jersey State Film Commission starting July 1st 2008.

The New Jersey Film Commission provides invaluable services to location scouts and location managers working in the New York City area, without which, many projects would not have been filmed in New Jersey.

Filming in New Jersey Brought in 92 million dollars last year, money that will be spent in other states next year if the New Jersey Film Office is eliminated.

Immediate action is needed to prevent this blow to the film industry in the northeast. Visit savenewjerseyfilm.com for information on what you can do!

“…Other fans know the Garden State better as the home and stomping grounds of director and writer Kevin Smith.


Many of Smith’s films feature recurring New Jersey landmarks — including the Quick Stop Convenience Store in Leonardo where Smith worked as a teenager; Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash and Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank; and The Ice Rink in Brick Township.


Like Nobebosco in Blairstown, Smith’s rotating list of hot spots continues to draw picture-snapping fans from across the country. Lucky fans might even find Smith’s buddy and franchise alum Walt Flanagan working the register at the Stash.”

The thread on Mewes states that Jason will appear for a free Q&A as well as a photo shoot — We assume this means there will be time for your own photos and autographs.

Jason will be a popular dude at the show, so you may want to line up early. If we hear further details on how you can meet Jason, we’ll of course keep you posted.

Tom Savini, special FX master and genre actor, who has a small role in “Zack & Miri Make a Porno”, will also appear at the show.

A full guest list (quite impressive) and more details at the show’s official site.

The thread on Mewes states that Jason will appear for a free Q&A as well as a photo shoot — We assume this means there will be time for your own photos and autographs.

Jason will be a popular dude at the show, so you may want to line up early. If we hear further details on how you can meet Jason, we’ll of course keep you posted.

Tom Savini, special FX master and genre actor, who has a small role in “Zack & Miri Make a Porno”, will also appear at the show.

A full guest list (quite impressive) and more details at the show’s official site.

CS: Is your character in the Kevin Smith movie better at making a porno than he is in “Knocked Up” making a porn site?


Rogen: Yes! I think he is. It’s way easier to make a porno than a porn web page. I’ll tell you that. Me and you could make a porno in 10 minutes on my iPhone. A web page would probably take one of you guys 10 minutes, for me it would take a while.


CS: Kevin Smith has a very different aesthetic from the Judd Apatow movies, so what was your experience like on that film?


Rogen: He let us improvise to the best that his shooting style will allow. He shoots very specifically because he edits the movies also. Shot for shot, the whole is planned out in his head beforehand so to some degree that limits the amount of improv you have can. You see how we shoot here. They put the cameras on us and we go. With Kevin, it’s much more specifically shot. It’s like, “Well this shot is only good for three words so you can improvise all you want, but only three words are going to be in this shot.” I was proud of him. He let us do a lot of stuff that I never thought he’d let people do. I’ve seen the movie and there is a lot of the improv that we’ve done in the movie and I think it feels maybe more naturalistic than maybe some of his other movies do. That being said, it’s not quite the same universe as what we do here.

Extra improv, eh? We’re intrigued. This one will surely make for an interesting commentary track on the eventual DVD release — Smith, Rogen & Co. on the same track? Damn, now we’re already looking forward to the DVD!

The MPAA called and said we had to take it down.

Here’s why: Weinstein Co. (like most studios) is a signatory of the MPAA. As such, there are protocols involving trailers that we failed to follow.

As with features, all trailers get rated get rated by the MPAA. The majority of them are for general audiences (Green Band trailers), but trailers packed with adult content (like our teaser) earns you what’s called a Red Band trailer.

Well, we didn’t go through this process – simply because, we felt, that since the teaser didn’t contain any footage from the actual flick, it wasn’t technically a trailer.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out all promotional material for any film financed/distributed by a signatory of the MPAA has to be signed-off on by the MPAA – including internet-only materials. I never realized this, as it’d never been a problem in the past: we’ve been doing ‘net-only teasers since “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and nobody ever raised a red flag before (not even on the last flick, for which we also put up two ‘net-only teasers in advance of the rated trailer). But I guess since the teaser was so, shall we say, racy… a rating was in order.

We’re now officially submitting the teaser to the MPAA for rating. If they approve it, we’ll put it back up.

So there ya have it, folks — We’ll keep you posted on this unfortunate situation, but do thank Kevin for taking the time to explain what happened. We’re guessing this may have an impact on future web postings of promotional content for auteurs all over the US, so we hope they’re all taking note. Stay tuned.

We’re also quite impressed with the marketing approach so far. Just some little tastes here and there, very little given up by Kevin and the cast and crew — Heck, the least amount of spoilers we’ve seen revealed or pushed out there since we started the site (those couple test screening reviews aside, but we skipped ’em, hope you did, too). We’re looking forward to watching this one play out as Kevin, Scott, Harvey, and the gang want it to — And nope, we’ve yet to read a page of the script (except for the EW piece) or see a single frame of film. And unless we hit a test screening before then, we’ll be enjoying it for the first time with the rest of you on opening day. It’s great having this job, but it’s also continually fun being the fans, and enjoying the reveal of a View Askew flick the natural way.

Check out the new poll topic on the right naviation of News Askew — We’re wondering what the new teaser did for your anticipation. Fire away.

If you’d like to read the strip and don’t get ‘My Cage’ in your local paper, check it out online. Or, of course, read it in your local paper — If you don’t see it, and want to, call your local office and ask.