Logline: The dustbins of history are filled with conflicts born out of blaming
others for one’s misfortune: David Margolick, Jon Ronson, Jane Green.
Whether scapegoats or martyrs, the dustbins of
history are filled with conflicts born out of blaming others for one’s
misfortune. The history of Others is also the history of acceptance and
differences. Why are we so determined to exclude those who do not resemble us?
Punish moral dissents? Or turn a blind eye on those who fall prey to society’s ever
increasingly disregard?
David Margolick, “Dreadful: The
Short life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns” portrays the once-celebrated
largely forgotten author of what’s arguably the first great gay novel in
American literature. “Dreadful” retraces the breathtaking rise of a writer
hailed as a worthy successor of Hemingway, John Dos Passos, only to vanish as
quickly as he appeared, in just six years.
Jane Green, “Saving Grace”
is about Grace Chapman who lives comfortably with her husband, bestselling
author Ted, in picture-perfect farmhouse, until Ted hires the young Beth, who
quickly threatened Beth’s marriage. Losing her center, Grace falls into a
whirlpool of paranoia and psychotic drugs, as she is misdiagnosed with mental
illness.
Jon Ronson, “So You’ve Been
Publicly Shamed,” investigates the world of public shaming, where social media
has made everyone a vigilante and where a poorly phrased tweet or comment can
catapult a person to Public Enemy No 1 overnight. Ronson follows up with those
whose lives have been left in tatters and questions those being most cruel in
the anonymous internet playground.
Look forward to your feeback, The Books du Jour Team
“Books du Jour”
is a weekly literary TV series about books and the people who write
them, currently broadcasting in the North-East on LIFE 25 (NYC),
Wednesdays at 10:30 pm. The program also re-runs 5 times a week at
various times. “Books du Jour” has a simple premise: each week,
the host, Frederic Colier, invites three authors to lunch in one of New
York’s finest restaurants to talk about books, ideas, society, culture,
and of course the world at large. “Books du Jour” covers all
genres and types of books and writers, even self-published ones. We have
grown tremendously since our modest beginning and, achieving
syndication on PBS is a sign that we are taking steps in the right
direction.
Watch past episodes, click on picture below.
How Does PBS Work?
As a result of the strong interest in our series, its
growing audience and high production value, we have been accepted for
syndication with American Public Television (APT), the main supplier of
programs for PBS affiliates. We want to deliver 12 to 16 episodes for
our next season. Because our program falls under the life-style
category, it is not eligible to receive licensing fees. In other words,
we have to raise money to pay for our broadcasting fees, closed-caption,
various delivery formats, and data storage units. All the money raised
goes towards these expenses.
We are hopeful that once we broadcast nationwide on PBS, that Sponsors will help us cover the series' production costs.
Our History
When
we started our weekly literary TV program almost years ago, we were
baffled by the fact that, in a country of 310 million people, no weekly
TV series encompassing fiction and non-fiction books actually existed.
We set out to correct this enormous chasm to give our audience the
opportunity to discover new and exciting books and authors.
Our “Books du Jour” did not start as the large production at all. The series is the outcome of an older program, Book Case TV,
which started with two people in a cluttered NY studio apartment,
producing short one-on-one author interviews, which were then posted on
YouTube. The segments were shot with a single camera, Iphones and still
cameras.
Just six weeks after starting our venture, NYC LIFE
offered us a TV deal. Suddenly, we had access to a 20-million-people
reach in the NY Metro area. It did not take long to build word of mouth
and get the attention of the creative and publishing industry. The
demand for interviews grew so fast that we had to rethink our strategy.
Our one-on-one interviews were too limiting. We ended up doing 34 x 30
mn episodes of BCTV. Books du Jour was born from the success of BCTV.
Our two-first seasons include 25 episodes shot with five cameras, a full production team and elaborate graphics. Our partner, NYC Media,
has been instrumental in the growth of the program by providing massive
logistic support: from crew to post-sound and a successful marketing
campaign in subway, buses, and taxis, while LIFE 25 contributed to our growing momentum by broadcasting and rerunning the episodes 4-5 times throughout the week.
Why Should You Support Us?
If
you are an avid reader and love learning, immersing yourself in
romance, sci-fi, thrillers, science, literary fiction, sociology,
history, memoirs, or whatever you like, you know that chances of seeing
your favorite authors on TV, unless he or she is already famous, are
dismal. If you want the chance to get to know your favorite authors,
here is your chance to get directly involved. Your small contribution
will get them in your own living room and on your personal device. In
helping us, you bring books, reading, and knowledge to the world.
What’s in it for You?
As already mentioned, we have the opportunity to broadcast the 3rd season of our Books du Jour
program across the entire country. To get there however, we need your
support to cover closed-captions, data storage, and the main expense:
our broadcasting fees. For your support, we are offering obviously a
wide selection of books (we have hundreds to give away) but we wanted
also to mark your support with something special. Depending on the
amount of your contribution, we are giving you artworks: photos and
drawings in various sizes, signed by the artist, and if requested
framed.
Risks and challenges
We have already succeeded in getting our program off the ground, as
it is already broadcasting in the North-East. This was the hardest step.
But do not think that the next one is easier. Growth implies careful planning and outside help.
Our goal is to make our program accessible nationwide since, clearly,
there exists a voracious reading audience across the country.
Should we fail at raising the funds, not only our hope to go national
would be compromised, delayed for sure, but we will also be depriving
the reading and book communities with wonderful opportunities to hear
new voices. This program is a public necessity: good for everyone:
authors, publishers, retailers, and of course readers.
We are facing a two-prong challenge: raising money for Broadcast and
for Production. We have managed to produce our program on shoe-string
budgets. No one gets paid. We have showed incredible resilience in the
face of challenging time schedule and demand.
We are already actively looking for sponsors to help us make this
program a full-time venture. Failure to raise money will put set us back
a year or two with our goals, and will force us to pedal twice as hard
to get there. But we will keep on pushing forth and make bigger waves
until we reach our goals.
Going National with your support would certainly facilitate our task.
David Margolick, “Dreadful: The
Short life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns” portrays the once-celebrated
largely forgotten author of what’s arguably the first great gay novel in
American literature. “Dreadful” retraces the breathtaking rise of a writer
hailed as a worthy successor of Hemingway, John Dos Passos, only to vanish as
quickly as he appeared, in just six years.
