Playstation 3 price cut could boost Blu-ray sales

Playstation 3 price cut could boost Blu-ray sales

Hollywood's hopes that high-definition Blu-ray discs could help make up for the sagging market for standard DVDs got a boost today thanks to a long awaited price cut of Sony's Playstation 3 video game console, which also plays Blu-ray movies.

The PS3 is far and away the most popular Blu-ray player in the world, with 24 million units sold thus far.

However, many studios had been counting on the console being even more popular and serving as a "Trojan horse" to get Blu-ray into many consumers' homes. While the Playstation 2 was the dominant video game console of the last generation of devices, the PS3 is a distant third behind Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has sold more than 30 million units, and Nintendo's Wii, which has moved more than 50 million.

One of the main reasons has been the PS3's high price: It launched at a $599 and for the last two years has been $399, compared with $299 for the Xbox 360 and $249 for the Wii. With today's price cut, it's now $299.

Blu-ray movie and TV sales rose 91% in the first half of the year to $407 million in the U.S., according to the Digital Entertainment Group, an industry trade organization. However, that's still a tiny percentage of overall consumer spending of $9.73 billion on home entertainment in the same time period and it did little to alleviate an overall drop of 13.5% on disc purchases.

For more on the Playstation 3 price cut, check out the Times' technology blog.

--Ben Fritz

When Tim Gunn met Michelle Obama and other 'Project Runway' dish

"Beautifully satisfied."

That's how Tim Gunn feels about Season 6 of "Project Runway," which debuts Thursday on Lifetime. 

Though the guru of all things "Runway" and the mentor of the fashion designers on the show pronounced himself satisfied with the new season, he said in a Monday interview that there was a learning curve, given that the show had a new production company and a new network.

"There wasn't a single solitary soul on the set other than me who knewwhat happened -- who knew firsthand by being there, what happened fromthe time Heidi would deliver the challenge until the work would end upback on the runway to be judged. I was the only one. There wasn't acrew member; there wasn't anyone," Gunn said.

But he's Tim Gunn; he made it work. Doesn't he always?

I'll have a feature/review of Season 6 of Project Runway" posted here no later than Thursday morning (and I've seen the first episode of the season and it looks and feels pretty much like previous seasons of the show -- which is to say, it promises to be addictive).

But I could not resist posting the transcript of my talk with Tim as soon as possible. If you don't want to read the whole thing, first there are a few highlights about Season 6 and about the "Project Runway All-Star Challenge" that airs before the debut of the new season. (And here is the press release on the Season 6 contestants, by the way.)

The highlights of my talk with Tim Gunn:

In July, he attended a luncheon at the White House and sat at First Lady Michelle Obama's table. Gunn reports that she likes "Runway" and that "she was sorry that the kids weren’t there because they were off at camp; they were big fans of the show," Gunn said. Season 7 of the show is already in the can, aside from the finale, which will be shot at New York Fashion Week in February. Some have criticized the new season for having too many experienced designers. "Make no assumptions about experience being an asset. There have been people who've been asserting that it's not fair, that these people with more seasoning have an advantage.  Not necessarily the case at all," Gunn said. One challenge in the first half of the season will set the "Runway" blogs on fire. He called the outcome "unprecedented in 'Project Runway' history and even I will not fully believe it -- that it really happened -- until I actually see it." Because of the lawsuit between Lifetime and Bravo and their corporate parents, challenges that had been planned would have to be scrapped at the last minute. "We were doing challenges that integrated ABC shows and Disney [propoerties] that suddenly went away because we didn't know where the show was going to air.  It was awful," Gunn said. "If you want to think of winning a challenge as being a validation of good work -- well, I don’t any longer.  I think it’s merely a barometric gauge of the taste of the panel of judges, and it’s not a validation of quality.  That’s not to say it invalidates them. Basically, it’s a matter of taste because we don’t have things falling apart anymore for the most part," Gunn said. "We have drama to beat the band, including a model who refused to wear the garment. I’m in the sewing room begging her -- well, not begging her.  I’m quite firm in saying, 'This is your responsibility.  It’s not a matter of personal taste -- you are a mannequin basically.  A walking mannequin.  Put it on,'" Gunn said. Filming the "All-Star Challenge" during the Season 6 taping was extremely hard on the normally easy-going Gunn: "I was as close to a psychotic breakdown as I’ve ever been... Going from one location to the next, wardrobe changes, mic changes; back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth."  But the worst part of the "All-Star" special was dealing with Season 2's Santino Rice: "I don’t want to give him anymore press.  He doesn’t need it. But that Santino Rice -- I was ready to take a cyanide capsule.  I mean, he just sucks all the air out of a room.""Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" will not be returning on Bravo. I've taken two parts of this interview out, they deal with the first episode of the season in a little bit of detail. I'll post those excepts and some thoughts on Episode 1 of the season on Friday.

OK, on to the main event. Below is an edited and condensed transcript of my talk with Tim Gunn.

MR:  Tim, how are you?

TG:  I’m wonderful.  I’ve been calling another number.  I’m so sorry.

MR:  Oh, no worries.  It’s just good to hear from you.

TG:  It’s great to hear from you too.  Thank God we’re back on the air.

MR:  You took the words right out of my mouth.

TG:  I thought it wasn’t going to happen.  I really did.  I thought this will just be in court forever.  Heidi was forever optimistic; I was ever doom and gloom.

MR:  You really thought it was just going to be kaput?

TG:  Worst-case scenario -- kaput, or the ultra-negative scenario was that [despite having been shot], Season 6 would just go away. I felt terrible for the designers.  These 16 people put their lives on hold for this and [I thought maybe] now this isn’t going to happen.  Then, of course, the very worst-case scenario was that we would never see "Runway" again, that it would be suspended in court forever.

MR: Well, I'm glad it's back, but in a way, I'm glad we got the break, because, truth be told, I felt like Seasons 4 and 5 were too close together.

TG:  Oh, I know, but I hate to tell you this.  I think [Seasons] 6 and 7 are going to be very close. We’ve already taped Season 7. Except for the finale which we’ll do in February.

MR:  So you’re way ahead of us.

TG:  We’re way ahead.  I’ve never taped a season of "Runway" when there’s been a whole season in the can.

MR:  That must be very odd.

TG:  Well, what’s really odd is -- I’m on the cusp of doing all of this press stuff for Season 6.  It’s like, “Wait a minute.  Who were those people?”  Of course I remember now but my brain was so full of the Season 7 designers.

MR:  Well, that’s one thing I was going to ask you. You filmed the majority of Season 6 last year -- is it hard to dredge it all up?

TG:  No, the only thing that is hard for me is to remember specifics about garments, but remembering the designers is easy, remembering their point of view is easy, remembering circumstances in the work room and the Q&As and deliberations -- that’s pretty easy. 

MR:  Well, we’ve talked so many times about other seasons and you’ve never steered me wrong.  So I don’t want to put you on the spot of having to say "This is the best season ever" unless you want to say that.

TG:  In fact, I probably will never say that again because people are tired of it. But I feel about each season the way I feel about a semester in school, each semester that I would have a different group of students, I get excited by them.  They produce wonderful work and each successive semester I’d have just a new group of people with new DNA and new personalities.  It was always invigorating, it was always refreshing. And I always look forward to the next group.

MR:  Is there anything about Season 6 that made it different from anything that has come before -- or, I guess, after?

TG:  We have a really interesting mix of youngsters and more mature people with a lot of experience.  And make no assumptions about the experience being an asset. There have been people who've been asserting that it's not fair, that these people with more seasoning have an advantage.  Not necessarily the case at all.  And frankly, I'm as surprised as I believe the viewers will be by the deftness and the agility of these younger people because I was thinking, "Oh, these kids are going to burn out."  But they've stayed with us.  And I'm not saying the more mature people leave right away but it's a very interesting season to watch.  Very interesting.

MR:  There are always the surprises and the upsets, so you're saying there's some of that this season?

TG:  Oh yeah.  I will also tell you, we have a challenge [in the first half of the season], the outcome of which is unprecedented in "Project Runway" history and even I will not fully believe it -- that it really happened -- until I actually see it. 

No one was more shocked than I.  And there's a certain judge -- not Heidi -- who is at the core of this outcome and this certain judge said that she would actually wear the winning garments. I've already talked to the Weinstein Company -- I'm going to do everything I can [to get the garment], because they auction the clothes after the challenge airs.  But I'm going to do everything I can to make certain that I have the highest bid because I'm going to make the judge wear it.

MR:  Really? Is this a guest judge?  Can you say that or would you rather keep it in the dark?

TG:  Let's keep it in the dark.

MR: There's the famous Tim Gunn saying, "This concerns me."  It concerned me when I heard the show was going to L.A.  Last time we talked, it was on the set of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style," and you were about to head out there.

TG:  I have to tell you, I went out there with tremendous [reservations] -- forget about me personally because I could go on and on about that.  I was concerned about what Los Angeles would really do for us fashion-wise.  And I have to tell you, I was there for less than 48 hours ... and it just struck me.  I had this epiphany that I beat myself up over because I should have had it earlier and what the epiphany was -- good God almighty, before World War II, Hollywood was the only place in America where there was any original thinking when it came to fashion because in New York, all [designers] were doing was copying.

It was all happening in Hollywood and I was reminded that Gilbert Adrian, who was the head costume designer at MGM for 30 years, there was such a fervor for his work that had ended up with a ready-to-wear line.  So that was the centerpiece and the core of all the creative thinking.  And it was exhilarating to wrap my brain around that, plus we arrived and the next weekend we had the [2008] Emmys and I thought, "This is also the city that's really the home of the red carpet -- the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Oscars.  And it's still the center of film and television so I was really braced up by that and suddenly my posture was better and I had only positive thinking, and the rest of the season was a snap.

MR: Lifetime sent us the first episode, without the elimination, and I have to say I was disappointed by the creativity of the challenge -- or rather, the lack of it.

TG:  To be honest, we wouldn't have done that challenge [if not for a certain set of conditions].

And as a matter of fact, we had another challenge set up [in case aspects of that challenge fell through; I'll post these paragraphs in their entirety Friday].  There were a lot of things that happened like that, having to do with the lawsuit.  We were doing challenges that integrated ABC shows and Disney [properties] that suddenly went away because we didn't know where the show was going to air.  It was awful.

The one thing that always kept me on an even keel was the designers' creativity and their ability to problem solve and so whatever they wouldn't know that the challenge went away, they have no prep time, but we made it work.

MR:  Did the lawsuit have an impact in many different ways, not just the challenges?  Was it just an odd season in a lot of ways?

TG:  Well, it was a challenging season for a number of reasons.  We had a new network that was providing stewardship that didn't really know [how every detail of making the show worked]. I don't have the adequate words to sing the praises of the Lifetime executives beginning with Andrea Wong at the top.  They were so attentive and so wonderful, [despite] not knowing where this show was going. 

So imagine that: We have a new network.  We have new producers [Magical Elves, the production company behind Seasons 1-5, had been replaced by Bunim-Murray Productions].  There wasn't a single solitary soul on the set other than me who knew what happened, who knew firsthand by being there, what happened from the time Heidi would deliver the challenge until the work would end up back on the runway to be judged.  I was the only one.  There wasn't a crew member; there wasn't anyone.

MR:  So did you have to sort of shepherd people along and say, well now this is what happens, and then you do this?

TG:  I was a happy collaborator with the producers.

MR:  It sounds like all of that made the process -- well, was it a steep learning curve?

TG:  Sure.  I mean, it was difficult in that [the Elves staff] knew everything and there was just a huge comfort zone that I certainly had.  But the silver lining was that our new producers were unencumbered by the past.  Yes, they'd seen every episode of the show.  They knew the rhythm and the cadence.  They knew the sequencing of things, but they also could bring some new ideas to this and it was great.  It was really great. 

So we have the new producers, new network, new city and we also have a sidebar in [the Lifetime spinoff series] "Models of the Runway."  So there was content that was going to shift out of "Runway" into "Models." Specifically [perhaps a certain amount of] the action that happens in the workroom when the designers are fitting the models in the clothes.  Things like that.  But it gives us more time to show other things in the 44 minutes we have for "Runway." 

So there was an additional production crew for "Models."  So I have to say, in a way, thank God we were in Los Angeles because the major difference between Los Angeles and New York is space.  Everything’s bigger.  We had a bigger workroom, we had bigger hallways, we had a bigger designer lounge, we had a bigger fitting room.  Everything was bigger, so with all these people running around it was a good thing.  When we did Season 7 in New York, the first thing the producer said was, “It’s so small.”  Yes, it is.  We were falling over each other.

MR: Are there designers who you think will emerge as fan favorites or who blew you away?

TG:  Most definitely.  And there were people who blew me away who took a long time to win a challenge or they never won a challenge at all, and I was totally mystified by the entire thing.  If you want to think of winning a challenge as being a validation of good work -- well, I don’t any longer.  I think it’s merely a barometric gauge of the taste of the panel of judges, and it’s not a validation of quality.  That’s not to say it invalidates them.   Basically, it’s a matter of taste because we don’t have things falling apart anymore for the most part.

MR:  Speaking of past stars, I do think the show took such a quantum leap in talent when Christian Siriano competed and won.

TG:  He’s still fabulous.  His fall line is coming out at Saks this week.  He’s doing incredibly well. 

MR:  That's excellent. But every season I have the concern, will the show top itself?  Because I certainly felt that Season 5 did not top Season 4 in any way. I wasn't a fan of Season 5. Was that just me being burnt out on two seasons in a row?

TG:  No, five didn’t [top Season 4].  You’re absolutely right.  And frankly, I’m surprised we’re nominated for an Emmy [for Season 5].  I’m delighted, but I’m surprised.  I was concerned about Season 5.

MR: Are you glad to have left Bravo or is it mixed feelings? Happy or sad?

TG:  I would never say I’m happy to have left Bravo. If it hadn’t been for Bravo’s tenacity there wouldn’t never have been a Season 2 of "Runway," so I’m always grateful to them for that.  But I will say, after five seasons, it was time for a booster shot.  And Lifetime, the Bunim-Murray people, Los Angeles -- they were all a great booster shot for the show, and we needed it.

MR:  So for the fan out there who’s thinking, “They’ve messed up my favorite show,” or, “Maybe they’ve done something wrong or mucked it up” -- Tim Gunn, the arbiter of all things "Runway," are you satisfied that they have not messed up our show?

TG:  Beautifully satisfied.  How did you feel when you saw the runway show [at the end of Episode 1 of Season 6]? 

MR:  It looked the same.  Everything looked the same.

TG:  It was on a soundstage. It was so funny.  Heidi said to me at the end of Season 5 -- it was the last day, last runway show was over.  She and I are on the runway.  We’re giving each other a hug, and she said, “You know, isn’t it going to be good to have a new environment for this runway?  A new space, new lighting.  It’ll all be different, and we need it.” 

So when I went to the [Season 6] soundstage -- I arrived before Heidi, and it took my breath away.  I saw -- it was [the runway room from previous seasons] replicated.  And I go, "Wait until Heidi sees this."

MR:  I know we’re getting way ahead of the game but were you happy with who ended up being finalists for Season 6 or do you not want to talk about that stuff yet?

TG:  Can I tell you this?  Given the lineup with the 16 designers in the beginning of Season 6 --  I would not have picked that lineup of finalists.  Does that mean that some of the people who were finalists I wouldn’t have picked?  I would have.  But that group?  No.

MR:  Really?

TG:  Never.

MR:  Wow.  So the "Runway" blogs will be on fire then.

TG:  People will be surprised as the show unwinds, people will be very surprised by who wins and who goes home.  I shouldn’t say that because the way that the show is edited [can sometimes make it easier for the viewer at home to figure out who is leaving].  For me, when I am looking at all of these people and I know what is going on in the workroom and I hear the five, six, seven hours of [runway Q&A with the judges] and [judges'] deliberations, my head is spinning.  I am seldom correct about about who is going home or who is winning. 

I will say this about the episode that I referred to earlier, where the blogs really will be going crazy when people see what the outcome is. I know the cameras are on that particular designer because I was confident, very confident, that the designer who ends up winning was -- hands down, no doubt in my mind -- going home. I was ready to pack the designer’s bags.

MR:  Really?  You were that sure?

TG:  Oh, yeah.  We have drama to beat the band, including [in one challenge] a model who refused to wear the garment. I’m in the sewing room begging her; well, not begging her.  I’m quite firm in saying, “This is your responsibility.  It’s not a matter of personal taste or -- you are a mannequin basically.  A walking mannequin.  Put it on.”

MR:  Will that be in "Models of the Runway" or on "Project Runway"?

TG:  I don’t know. It may not be on it at all. There is so much content and they cut so much good stuff that [is memorable to Tim].  I remember going back to season one, there was a team challenge with Austin Scarlett, Wendy Pepper, and Vanessa Riley. Wendy and Vanessa hated each other, but they were bonded in a disdain for Austin, who was the team leader. He was doing what he probably should have done but he was really obnoxious about it.  None of [that drama] is in the episode.  None of it.

This is what I mean about content.  When there is so much happening and we only have 44 minutes to tell the story.

MR:  That is really odd.  So there is drama aplenty this season. Is it fireworks in the workroom or are people just focused on their work?

TG:  It's a bunch of fashion designers.  That’s all I need to say.

MR:  Well, that’s music to my ears.

TG:  If we got rid of everyone in this industry who is high maintenance, there would be nobody left.

MR:  Nobody except you, Tim Gunn.

TG:  Well that’s… thank you.  I try to be a self-cleaning over as much as I can be.

MR:  We have one contestant from Chicago -- Ra'mon.  Did he strike you as an up and comer?

TG:  Definitely someone to watch.

MR:  And I’ll put in the article that you laughed uproariously, knowingly.

TG:  There’s never a dull moment with Ra'mon.

MR:  Can you talk at all about guest judges?  Will Lifetime burst a blood vessel if you talk about other judges or they OK with that?

TG:  Yes.  They’ll definitely burst a blood vessel.  I will say this, we ended up with judges  it would have been much more difficult to have brought to New York.

MR:  Oh, OK.  Yeah, it seems like there is a lot to choose from in L.A. in terms of celebrities that are interested in fashion. Was it mostly actors and actresses?

TG:  It’s a good mix.

MR:  Now, I have to ask about the "All Star" special that we’re going to see.

TG:  Oh God!

MR:  Is that a good "Oh, God" or a bad "Oh, God"?

TG:  Here’s my problem with it: we taped that show over the course of six days while we were taping Season 7.  I was as close to a psychotic breakdown as I’ve ever been.

MR:  Really? You?

TG:  Going from one location to the next, wardrobe changes, mic changes; back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth.  I don’t want to give him anymore press.  He doesn’t need it. But that Santino Rice -- I was ready to take a cyanide capsule.  I mean, he just sucks all the air out of a room.

MR:  Did he have any competition for king of the drama?

TG:  Oh, everybody ceded to their place in the [drama] competition or withdrew from the competition, let me put it that way.  Because no one could compete with him.

MR:  In terms of fashion-design prowess?

TG:  No, no.  In terms of Santino's personality.  It was simply soul-sucking.  The crew was driven to despair, the producers -- I don’t know how they’ve edited it.  I don’t know because Santino was a whirling dervish, 24/7.

MR:  I get the impression you found it unpleasant.  

TG:  Oh, yes.  Oh, my God.  Daniel Vosovic [from Season 2], at least he went through the season with him so he knew what to expect, but nobody else did.  They were all horrified.  Horrified.  They were begging me to do something about and I kept gesturing to him, saying, “That’s what you get.  Deal with it, guys.” 

Everybody else was wonderful; it was wonderful.  It was great having Daniel there, and Chris March and Sweet P and Korto [Momolu] and Jeffrey [Sebelia] and Mychael [Knight; Uli Herzner also competed].  We had a good time, other than that. 

MR: Last time we talked, you were doing "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" then jetting off to go do Season 6 of "Runway."  Have you had a chance to slow down at all, given this gap between seasons?

TG:  No, because I have my full-time day job [at Liz Claiborne], which, given this economic calamity -- talk about being driven to despair.  We’re confident that we’ll come out of this in a good place but, boy, is it grim and it’s getting grimmer.

MR:  I was thinking about this earlier today -- I was thinking, “I hope that Tim Gunn got a week on a sandy beach on some nice Caribbean island at some point in the last year.”

TG:  Tim Gunn hasn’t even been able to get away to see his poor dying mother.

MR:  Oh, my goodness.  I am so sorry.

TG:  Thank you.  No, it’s bad.  I mean, thankfully my sister is with her, but…  And I talk to either my sister or my mother, if she is able to talk, every day and sometimes more than once.  But it’s been bad.  I was trying to get away two weekends ago and then, pow.  Something came up with Lifetime and they wanted me to do something and I just -- I am very loyal to them.  Whatever they want, I’ll do it.

MR:  Is there going to be more "Guide to Style"?

TG:  No.

MR:  Yet you did the red-carpet coverage for Bravo's "A-List Awards."

TG:  I took the high road.

MR:  You always do.  That is the nature of Tim Gunn.

TG:  I think it’s what more people should practice.  Oh, I have to tell you something else.  I went to the White House in July and I ate lunch with Michelle Obama!

MR:  You did? Wow.

TG:  I know!  She’s the patron of the National Design Awards and the National Design Awards are run out of the National Design Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt here in New York.  I am on the selection committee, so in that capacity I was invited.  I should add, I have been invited in the past but I’ve never gone because I didn’t want to go to the Bush White House.  So this year it was like, “Oh, my God.  I’m going.”  I was at her table. 

MR:  So you talked to Michelle Obama?

TG:  Yes.

MR:  What did she say?

TG:  She’s just a natural conversationalist.  She’s brilliant.  She’s warm.  She’s statuesque and accessible.  I was in heaven.  I already loved her, but then I thought maybe I’ll be disappointed.  No.  She exceeded my expectations.

MR:  Is she a fan of "Project Runway"?

TG:  Yes.

MR:  What did she say about the show?

TG:  She was sorry that the kids weren’t there because they were off at camp; they were big fans of the show and all of that.  We didn’t spend hours talking but it was lovely.  She was dressed a Michael Kors sheath in yellow.

MR:  Does President Obama like "Runway"?  Did you talk about that at all?

TG:  No, that didn't come up.

MR: Well, it's great that you got to meet her. She certainly has a great fashion sense.

TG:  Michelle Obama is fashion's savior.

MR:  Really?

TG:  When I consider the economic downturn, if it weren’t for Michelle Obama, I would be putting an RIP stone over American fashion.  Truly.  Not only because she is this warm, accessible, charismatic figure who looks fabulous in her clothing, but because she sends a message to Americans, which is that you can do this on a budget.

MR:  Yes, exactly.  I see those little sweaters now and I’m like, “OK, fabulous little sweater over a shift.”

TG:  I know, it’s wonderful.  And she wears the same clothes more than once.

MR:  That’s what a sensible Chicago woman does.

TG:  Exactly.  She is my fashion icon now.

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Getting ready for one last trip to the beach? Have a long plane ride coming up? Or are you just ready to become engrossed in a good book? Try these mysteries you may have missed.