Just a Geek (31 page)

For those not familiar, NewTek was the company that brought desktop video to the consumer market while also re-defining the professional market. They made The Video Toaster, which was an amazing, affordable way to make television yourself that looked as good as the stuff the networks made, with nifty effects, graphics, and what was probably the coolest 3D program back then.

I firmly believe that the Video Toaster created the market for the iMovie and the other rash of desktop video solutions.

While I worked there, I was part of the research and development team, working mostly on the Video Toaster 4000. I also spent LOTS of time traveling around the country giving demos and stuff for the launch of the 4000 when it was finished.

The year and a half I spent at NewTek was one of the best in my life, as far as personal growth goes. I learned that I
can
make it in the Real World, but, more importantly, I learned that I am very unhappy if I'm not being an actor. I'm a pretty skeptical person, but I tell you this: I really believe that "do what you're supposed to do" stuff, and I learned, while I was there, that I am supposed to be an actor.

I had this plan when I worked for NewTek, and, unfortunately, I never got to complete it. It went something like this: I can write, and I can write well. I have TONS of creative ideas, that would make cool short films, but none of them would ever make money or be suitable for TV. In short, no network or studio would ever give me the money to make them. So I decided that I would make them myself, using a digital video camera and the Video Toaster. I'd give the movies to NewTek, and they could use them in marketing as an example of what the Toaster could do.

Good idea, right? We all thought so, and we were doing it, until NewTek fell apart, and the core group left to form Play Incorporated, in the mid-90s. It's actually a good thing that NewTek imploded, because it gave me this kick in the ass to get back to LA and rededicate myself to acting. However, a few years went by, and I was feeling like I had started this thing and never finished it, which was bugging me. So I called up Paul Montgomery, my friend who left NewTek and became the vision behind Play Inc. Paul thought it was a great idea, and we started working out the kinks. And there were some kinks, believe me. There were some people at Play who I just couldn't work with. Paul and I were in the process of working all that out when Paul had a heart attack and died, at age 31. Holy shit. Paul was the soul of NewTek and the soul of Play. With him gone, Play completely fell apart. I tried to keep going with our idea, because that's what I thought he'd want, but the person who took over Play was just impossible. He treated me so badly, and so dishonored Paul's memory, that I told him to shove it, and walked away. Shortly after Paul died, they ran Play into the ground, too. Completely sucked, because Play had amazing potential.

Thing is, I still want to make my own movies, and I still think that people like you and me can do it with great ease, using tools like the iMovie. Matter of fact, if anyone reading this knows people at Apple, have them get in touch with me. I'd still like to produce my own stuff, and I'm thinking iMovie is the way to go, now, as far as I can tell.

I never owned an Amiga before working at NewTek, but I loved them while I had them. They were always easy to use and stable as hell. Too bad Commodore never "got" the Amiga. Yet another example of Corporate America failing to see the forest through the trees.

USENET

By Herbmaster on 08:16 AM October 15th, 2001

When did you first hear of the classic Usenet group, alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die, and what was your reaction?

I first became aware of it while visiting the HAL labs in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January, 1992. I really didn't care about it, at first, because by that time I had gotten used to people hating not only Wesley, but me. Over the years, though, all that negativity and the inability to separate me from a character I played has really wore on me. Since I launched my website, I now have a presence on the Internet, and a lot of that crap has come crashing back down on me. Honestly, you'd think that people would grow up and move on, seeing as it was so many years ago, but you'd be wrong. You know what's weird? It hurt, all that criticism. It hurt then, and it still hurts now. Sometimes it just makes me feel bad, and other times, it makes me mad. Once, after enduring a particularly vicious attack from someone, I wrote:

Thank you for blaming ME for the writing of a fictional character, on a fictional TV show. That makes complete sense, considering all the input the writers would take from a 15-year-old kid. Have you ever bothered to ask? Did it ever occur to you that I just said the lines I was given? Don't take it out on me. I'm just an actor, who did the best job he could with what he was given.

I don't care if you're The Guy From TV or if you're the kid from math class. Being personally attacked by people who don't know a thing about you hurts. It sucks. I wonder, do you spend a fifth of the time you spend dumping on me doing something constructive with your life? I certainly hope so. You people are just like the people in high school who never took the time to get to know me and judged me before I even showed up.

Aren't we mostly geeks here, online? Didn't we all, at one time or another, get bullied by the cool kids? Don't any of you remember what that felt like?

So, yeah. That's how I reacted when I was hurt and mad. It's strange to me that I'm 29 now, and people are still giving me shit for a show that I did when I was 15. What's surprising to me, still, is that I even care, and that the criticism still hurts. If I could only live my life with my threshold at 4.

WIL'S JOB AT NEWTEK'S LIGHTWAVE

BY PETER303 ON 08:17 AM OCTOBER 15TH, 2001

You worked at the animation software shop NewTek for a while. What did you do there? Do you thing you'll get back into tech again someday?

Well, I think I pretty much covered the NewTek stuff already, but as far as tech goes, the farthest I can go with my technical skill is what I've done with my website. I think I've come a long way from my first überlame page that I built with Pagebuilder at Geocities. The problem that I always run into is that my aspirations constantly out pace my abilities. I have these dreams of doing all sorts of amazingly cool PHP things at my site, but these are months, maybe even a year off. Technology is moving so quickly these days, if you stop to look around, you get left in the dust, and it's pretty hard for me to keep up.

I have always loved technology, and when I can afford it, I will have all the cool tech toys that they sell at ThinkGeek. They will be mine. Oh yes. They will be mine.

HOLLYWOOD ACTIVISM

By Dunkirk on 08:23 AM October 15th, 2001

Wil, you have made comments to the effect of poo-poo'ing celebrity opinions about issues in general. Yet in your blogs, you spend a lot of time discussing politics, and you make no bones about which side of the isle you favor. As someone in the public spotlight—and especially as someone in the geek spotlight (being a celeb that has your own self-coded website)—do you consider it a duty of sorts to be an activist? Does being a celeb[rity] bring any more responsibility over the common, First Amendment-empowered citizen in voicing your opinion? Also, do you feel that you have qualities above and beyond other Hollywood celebrities that makes it important that you share your feelings?

Thanks
,

dk

One of my defining characteristics is that I can't keep my mouth shut. I can't stand idly by, and if somebody has to say it, it may as well be me. I am extremely passionate about virtually everything, and that passion drives me to discuss, argue, and learn about issues that have an effect on my life. I'm sure that it would just be easier to stay quiet and live happily in McWorld, but I will not go gently into that good night.

I don't know if I have qualities above and beyond other celebrities that make it important to share my feelings. I don't know because I don't hang out with other celebrities, at all. But I do know that my passion is genuine, and I really do care about the issues I discuss. I don't know what the others do, but I carefully research issues before I get on one side of them. I evaluate both sides of an issue and apply my own filters, based on my knowledge and previous experiences. I draw a conclusion, I test the conclusion, I form an opinion, and then I post about it. I just write about the things that matter to me. I would be writing about this stuff, even if nobody came to my website to read about it. However, for better or for worse, in our culture we tend to give more attention to a celebrity than an equally educated non-celebrity. So if I can use my visibility to bring attention to the idiocy of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), or the things the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) have been pulling the last two years, then I will do it, gladly. That falls under the heading of "Using the Power of Celebrity for Good." Of course, I'm sure it's fun to use it for Evil, but that opportunity hasn't presented itself to me yet.

I don't want people to listen to me because they think I'm a celebrity. I don't view myself as a "celebrity" at all. Matter of fact, one of the freakiest and most surprising things I've discovered since I launched my website is that way more people know my work than I ever imagined. So I guess that makes me a celebrity to some people, but not in my own mind, if that makes any sense.

RADIO FREE BURRITO

By webword on 08:42 AM October 15th, 2001

You seem to know a lot about music. How big is your collection? What are your favorite bands? What is Radio Free Burrito and what do you think of broadcasting live?

I am a total music weenie. I aspire to be like the guys in High Fidelity. Yeah, I'm that lame.

As I say on my music page, I think that you can learn a lot about a person through the music they listen to. The bands that I like—though they cross many genres—all have souls. What I mean by that is, all the bands I really like all say something with their music. It somehow affects me when I listen to it. The first time I listened to
Kid A
, for example, I had this visceral, emotional reaction to it, and I still get that when I hear it. When I hear the first "ping" of "Echoes",
^[
23
^]
I still get chills. I am so awed by the power of music to evoke emotion in people, and I admire the bands who take advantage of that power and use it for Good. Pop music is so packaged and over-produced, and so clearly exists only to make money, that it just offends me. That's using the power of music for Evil. Unless you're Huey Lewis and The News. Then you use music for The Power of Love.

I have a real fondness in my heart for the Emo bands and the indie rock. Some of my current listens are Radiohead, The Pixies, Tool, The Ataris, Coldplay, They Might Be Giants, Portishead, *NSYNC, (just seeing if you're skimming or really listening. har.), Pink Floyd, The Rushmore soundtrack, fairview, Alkaline Trio, Hot Water Music, and The Get Up Kids.

Tangent, here: I think The Ataris are like a musical Linux, sort of. They publish all the lyrics for their songs, as well as the guitar tabs, and make every single one of their songs available as an MP3 for free download. Yet they still make tons of money at MP3.com, and their records sell like crazy. I think it's a great analogy . . . you don't have to be closed source to be profitable.

Radio Free Burrito is my attempt to fulfill a childhood dream of being a DJ. I stream my MP3s through a Live365 server using shoutcast almost every day, and I do live broadcasts a few times a week, where I joke, do news "Letterman-style," run a chat room, and stuff like that. It's really fun, and I still get this giddy excitement when I check the station stats and see that there's 50 people listening. Broadcasting live is insanely fun and gives me another chance to reach an audience directly, on my terms, rather than for some producer or network. I have a whole page at my site devoted to the rfb, with a playlist and links to hi-fi and lo-fi streams. Come listen someday. You'll be glad you did!

My CD collection is HUGE. I think I have over 6,000 CDs in various places around my house and in the garage. I would have more, but when I moved out of my parent's house, my younger brother moved into my bedroom, and sold all of my Cure, Depeche, Bauhaus, Boingo, and other 80s alterna-rock at some used music store. I think he used the money to buy rugs. Not drugs, rugs. My brother has had a rug habit for years. Persians, throws, areas, even Berber carpets. Sad thing is, he can't admit he has a problem. He's probably at Carpeteria right now.

WESLEY VS. ADRIC

By wowbagger on 08:51 AM October 15th, 2001

Many people have compared Wesley Crusher to Adric on Dr. Who. In both cases, the character was reviled because of the way the writers handled him. What are your thoughts on this? How would you recommend an actor handle this sort of situation in the future?

Okay, first let me put on my Asbestos suit.

Alright. I don't know who Adric is, so I can't address that.

*duck*