Does "Pulp Fiction" belong on the National Film Registry? Or, I admit it - Quentin Tarantino is really smart.

One of the reoccurring discussions at the annual meeting of the National Film Preservation Board to decide which films to recommend to the Librarian of Congress for inclusion on the National Film Registry is - does Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction belong?

There are times that it seems that Quentin Tarantino is a quite wacky guy who is all about superficial pop culture and that his films add nothing to our cultural heritage. But, then you see him in the above video of an interview by Charlie Rose. In it he makes some really important points about being a writer-director and he sounds quite intelligent and thoughtful. If you put aside his love of the spotlight (which is the source of his sometimes wacky persona) and focus on his filmmaking - it seems undeniable that he has an unique voice that has expanded our idea of storytelling. I don't appreciate/approve of his use of the N-word, excessive violence and his forays into misogyny - but he is a creative force to be considered seriously. Perhaps next week when the Library of Congress announces Dr. Billington's 2011 selections to the National Film Registry we might see Pulp Fiction among the films chosen.

The 2011 National Film Registry announcement will be made on or about December 28th.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher version) Trailer Manipulations and TAS DVD Extras

Sony Pictures has withdrawn the above trailer...er, I mean has asked youtube to take it down due to copyright violation. The following blog post was written before the trailer was taken down. We stand by the blog post.

You can view a non-shaky (you'll know what we mean by non-shaky after you read the blog post) version of the trailer at the following link: http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/official-trailer-for-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tat

What is true? Can we trust anything? Or, lighten up - it's just a movie.

The above "bootlegged - leaked" trailer is for the David Fincher directed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (it's the so called "American version" since there is a wonderfully done Swedish original, Man som hatar kvinnor, directed by Niels Arden Oplev and starring Noomi Repace (love her!) and Michael Nyqvist). Here is the situation...it is said that this is a special European only released trailer. Someone in a theater audience using a consumer video camera secretly and illegally shot this copy and then posted it on youtube. Wow, we're getting a sneak peak here in America! I am such a special person to have found it!

But, hold on. It does have the image movement that is consistent with someone shooting a theater movie screen (floating image in hand held style) to create a bootleg copy. However the movement is really smooth and the image quality really good. And, where are the normal ambient sounds that is typical of "bootlegged" videos (coughing by someone in the audience, poor sound quality of the camera microphone, the clicks of camera microphone as the operator moves the camera, etc.). It's all so clean. Plus, as The Hollywood Reporter points out, "the trailer is preceded by an MPAA red-band, advising that the preview has been approved by the MPAA for mature audiences. But why would theaters in Europe be showing an MPAA advisory that is aimed at U.S. moviegoers?"

Conclusion: Sony Pictures is creating an advance buzz by making us believe we are getting an illegal sneak peak! When in fact it is just a well designed fake. It's not illegal and "bootlegged" but, in fact, their own work product. We aren't special people for finding it on the web. We aren't really special for having this advance knowledge of a film we are all excitingly anticipating. Darn, I'm not special. Damn you Sony! (I do think the trailer is pretty cool.)

One last comment...it seems a little foolish for Sony to have done this (assuming they did fake this) because film piracy/bootlegging/illegal file sharing is a big problem for the film business. Using it as a promotional ploy seems to undercut the seriousness of the problem. Maybe we shouldn't take the FBI warnings we all see on DVDs so seriously.

Speaking of DVDs...PBS Video will release These Amazing Shadows on DVD in the fall. We are currently putting together the DVD extras. Next week Paul and I will go into a studio to record the directors commentary. If you want your name or a special someone casually mentioned by me or Paul during the commentary please send us $100 c/o of Gravitas Docufilms (only kidding). Our DVD extras will have many surprises including portions of the interviews left on the cutting room floor of John Waters and Christopher Nolan, bloopers and a wonderful 25 minute piece on film preservation entitled, Lost Forever.

These Amazing Shadows Interview subject updates: Wayne Wang, Barry Jenkins, Christopher Nolan and Barbara Kopple.

Wayne Wang: His new movie, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, has just been picked up for domestic distribution by Fox Searchlight for probable fall release. We're so excited because it looks like a beautiful film. His Hollywood studio films like Maid in Manhattan and The Holiday are nice, but we really love his work when he tells stories that are close to his heart. Check out the trailer above. Our sources tell us that Wayne is prepping for his biopix on Albert Einstein.  Hummmm...who to cast as Einstein? Young Albert: Giovanni Ribisi. Old Albert: Richard Dreyfuss. Oh, don't like that...suggestions???

Tracey Heggins (Jo') and Wyatt Cenac (Micah) in Medicine for Melancholy.

Barry Jenkins: He joined us for a post screening Q&A at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in San Francisco. He is one of those rare filmmakers that is as good at promoting a film as making one. His feature film directorial debut, Medicine for Melancholy, is now running on Showtime. I am watching it as I write this fascinating blog post - so enjoyable.
Showtime schedule for Medicine for Melancholy: http://www.sho.com/site/movies/movie.do?seriesid=0&seasonid=0&episodeid=136098

Christopher Nolan (center) shooting on the streets of Pittsburgh.

Christopher Nolan: Christopher is working on Dark Knight Rises, his last installment of the Batman franchise. We wish we had some inside info but........we don't. We do however offer a twitter pic (above) of Christopher (center) and crew shooting in Pittsburgh. Notice the snow blower in the lower right corner - it is reported that the photo depicts him reading the owners manual trying to figure out how to get the snow blower to work. We believe that story is true because it seems consistent with how he was during our interview. You see we were having problems with a coffee maker and...(just kidding).

Sheet of the new Gregory Peck US Postal Service first class stamp.

Remember the US Postal Service? Well, it still exists and sometimes can be pretty cool. On May 13th they issued a Gregory Peck stamp. One of the stamps release events (there were others including in LA at the Academy of Arts and Sciences) took place at the Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island. Peck's grandson, 19-year-old Zackary Peck, was on hand as well as family friend Barbara Kopple. Scenes from Kopple's Documentary A Conversation with Gregory Peck was shown while Peck's Oscar performance as Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" was re-enacted by S.I. Shakespearean Theatre Co. actor Joseph Daly. The stamp bears Peck's likeness from the movie because as Stephen Peck says in These Amazing Shadows - Atticus Finch "was closest to his true character, certainly the character he would want to be."

Bill Gold Posterworks

I have always been amazed that the person who designed the iconic poster for Casablanca also did the poster for Woodstock and Dirty Harry. Bill Gold is not only remarkable for the range of his design style and setting design standards, but for his longevity. His career started with the poster for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). He went on to do Giant (1956), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sting (1973), Bulitt (1968), Unforgiven (1992), The Big Sleep (1946), The Searchers (1956), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Dog Day Afternoon (1975) , All the President's Men (1976) (all of these titles are on the National Film Registry) and many, many more. A complete list can be seen at the following Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gold

A new book entitled, Bill Gold Posterworks, was recently published by Reel Art Press. It is an impressive piece of publishing (as the price suggests: $650.00). Bill is 90 years old and still going strong. According to The Hollywood Reporter Bill is retired, but would consider consulting on a poster design if the right project comes along. His influence on popular culture cannot be overstated.

Reel Art Press, a British outfit, has other equally amazing titles such as The Rat Pack and the affordable movie star series - Weddings and Movie Stars ($79.95).

Bill Gold: Posterworks at Reel Art Press

Reel Art Press on Twitter


Reel Art Press on Facebook

"Let's All Go to the Lobby" - Redux'd, Revived and Redone

One of the delightful moments in These Amazing Shadows is when George Willeman describes how and why he got the bumper, Let's All Go to the Lobby, selected to the National Film Registry.  Like all great works of pop culture art - LAGTTL is often imitated, mashed and mangled. You can watch the original version above. The following four videos are marvelous examples of the timeless art of imitation and parody. Long live LAGTTL!


Let's All Go to the Lobby...Simpsons Style!


BrainPhunk Version 1.0


The Freshmoore Animation Class presents...Let's All Go to the Lobby!!!



From Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Information on:
Let's All Go to the Lobby - original
The Filmack Studios
The Simpsons
Wack Piktures
Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Let's All Go to the Lobby (1957) was selected to the National Film Registry in 2000.
Thanks, George.

Geese, a Goat and Harry Shearer

An Ashland goat.

Report by co-director Paul Mariano from the Ashland Independent Film Festival. 
Photos by Suzanne Chapot.

Ashland -- known for its Shakespearean festival -- is a wonderful town for a film festival also…as we learned. We arrived in Ashland for the festival on Thursday, April 7^th.  TAS was set to screen on Saturday. The staff set us up in a charming bed and breakfast just outside of town. We had a great cottage in the back, and shared our environs with a goat and a gaggle of geese in the pond just outside our front door.

A gaggle of Ashland geese.

On Thursday night we went to the Opening Night Bash, where we ran into Harry Shearer.  Harry was appearing with his documentary The Big Uneasy.  Harry and I discussed our mutual producer (Christine O’Malley…the “best of the best”)…and This is Spinal Tap, a film in which Harry starred and is profiled in These Amazing Shadows. 

Harry Shearer, director of The Big Uneasy trades quips with Paul.

On Friday, we got a chance to see three other screenings and prowl around Ashland.  Everywhere we went, there was a poster of These Amazing Shadows on display. We hoped that this was a good omen.

Saturday morning TAS was screened in the 500-seat Ashland Historic Armory.  Paul and Suzanne (who has become the unofficial festival photographer) went early to talk with the staff and “check out” the theater.  The people filed in, the lights went down, the audience got quiet….and then it started.  It might have been cold outside, but it was warm and friendly inside the theater.  The audience absolutely loved TAS.  They laughed and they cried, and when it was over, they applauded longer and louder (there was even a standing ovation from some) than any audience thus far.  It was a heart-warming and rewarding moment…one I wish that the entire crew had been present to experience and share. Our thanks to the staff of the festival and to the audience who enjoyed our film so much !

Paul on stage post TAS screening at the Historic Ashland Armory.

This is Spinal Tap (1984) was selected to the National Film Registry in 2002.

New York Director: Sidney Lumet 1924 - 2011

 

Sidney Lumet on location in his beloved New York City.

Sidney Lumet, director, screenwriter and producer died on Saturday, April 9th.

We had a conversation recently about who we should invite to be a guest speaker at the April 21st screening of These Amazing Shadows at the IFC Center Theater, New York. Thom Powers, who will be hosting the screening, suggested it would be great to have a noted New York filmmaker. The first name that came up was Sidney Lumet. Many of his films have the gritty realism that represents to the world the true nature of New York City.

Mr. Lumet has five films on the National Film Registry:
Dog Day Afternoon (1975), selected to the Registry in 2009.
12 Angry Men (1957), selected to the Registry in 2007.
King: A Filmed Record (1970), selected to the Registry in 1999.
Network (1976), selected to the Registry in 2000.
The Pawnbroker (1965), selected to the Registry in 2008.

His humanity, love of actors and willingness to unflinchingly examine human emotions will be missed.

All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.
                                                                                - Sidney Lumet

Darling Deschanels, Ashland, RiverRun and Tiburon

Zooey and Caleb Deschanel on the set of The Slugger's Wife in 1984.

One of the charming moments in These Amazing Shadows is Zooey Deschanel and her father Caleb talking about The Wizard of Oz. It's clear they share a bond through that movie (and an intense resemblance with their striking blue eyes). One of our ideas during production was to ask Zooey and Caleb if they had any home movies they would be willing to share with us. It was to be used in an elaborate TAS "Home Movie" segment. In the hectic environment of documentary production...we simply forgot to ask them. I still wonder - what would a famous cinematographer's family home movies look like? Not to mention the added layer of interest with his daughters growing up to be movie and TV stars.  I was reminded of that fumbled idea when a fan of TAS sent us the above photo.

Mary Jo, Zooey and Caleb Deschanel.

This is a big weekend for TAS. We are screening on Saturday at the Ashland Independent Film Festival and RiverRun International Film Festival; and Sunday at the Tiburon International Film Festival. Co-director Paul Mariano (along with his wife Suzanne) will be in Ashland to do a post-screening Q&A. I will be appearing for a brief Q&A in Tiburon. We are disappointed that we cannot attend RiverRun. We will be posting photos from these festivals next week.


The Wizard of Oz Facts:
- premiered at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin on August 12, 1939 and Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood on August 15, 1939.

- selected to the National Film Registry in 1989.

- Toto is listed in the end credits as being played by Toto, when he was actually played by a dog named Terry.

The Before and After "Black Swan" Special Effects Video is Stunning

Take a moment to watch the above VFX Breakdown video that reveals the incredible layers of special effects that are used in Black Swan. It boggles the mind how much an image can be altered and shaped. The amazing visual effects (vfx) artists are the frosting on the cake that is Matthew Libatiques's dynamic cinematography. Gorgeous performance by Natalie Portman and some great dancing in the really difficult scenes by her dance double, Sarah Lane.

PS - There is a controversy over who did most of the on-camera dancing - Portman or Lane.
http://www.okmagazine.com/2011/03/sarah-lanes-natalie-portman-dance-double-claims-denied-by-filmmakers/

Martin Scorsese - Great series of photographs and captions from The Hollywood Reporter

Detail from The Hollywood Reporter gallery on Martin Scorsese.

Take a look at a fascinating series of photographs (and equally good captions) of director Martin Scorsese that is featured on The Hollywood Reporter website. It's really good - and is part of the hype building for the Blu-ray release on April 5th of the Scorsese classic, Taxi Driver. The Blu-ray evidently contains tons of extras.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/martin-scorsese-past-171267

My Fortune Cookie

Received this inside a fortune cookie on Friday night out to dinner with family. I was kind of hoping for "One day you will be President of the United States" or "A blond woman named Julie will soon enter your life," but the one you see above is rather apropos.

My White Whale - "Frank Film"

Frank Film, Frank MOURIS, 1973 by shortanimatedworld

On Tuesday I read an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Two Animated Dog Sitters," by Ralph Gardner, Jr. that is about two dog sitters, Frank and Caroline Mouris. The reason this article caught my eye is because many years ago Frank Mouris was my White Whale. To explain we must rewind my little life back to when I was a teenager and made my first film, Floods: A National Disgrace, a mocumentary about pants that "flood" (sometimes called "highwaters" it is defined as pants that fall around the ankle. This refers to the fact that you can wear them when there is a flood, or "high waters." At that time pants that were too short were not fashionable.)

Floods was a eight minute Super 8 mm film with a magnetic stripe for sync sound - made a long time before the miracle of the Interwebs and digital filmmaking. I entered the film in the Brooklyn Film Festival. From my vantage point in California that festival sounded very exotic. The film was appreciated for its humor and was selected to be part of a group of films from the festival that toured the country screening in libraries, schools and community theaters. The film that won the festival Grand Prize was an experimental piece called, Frank Film, directed by Frank Mouris.

Click to enlarge - program from the Brooklyn Film Festival

In those pre-Internet days it was hard to see short films. I had no idea what Frank Film was about or looked like. All I knew was that it kept winning festivals and eventually that years Oscar for best short film. My film was always coming up short because everyone loved the alleged super fantastic Frank Film. To be honest my film was no where as good as Frank Mouris' film but in my crazy teenage mind I thought, "what's Frank Film got that my film don't got!" It bugged me for a long time. Fast forward years later to 2009 and we are in pre-production on These Amazing Shadows. Co-director Paul Mariano and I are reviewing the list of 550 films on the National Film Registry and I come across a very familiar title - Frank Film! Once again Frank Film is one step ahead of me! (It was selected to the Registry in 1996.) I quickly did a web search, found a link to the film and watched it for the first time. I liked it.

Frank Film did not make it into These Amazing Shadows. I want to make it clear that my youthful bitterness and jealousy had nothing to do with that decision.

With Frank Film's selection to the NFR it was designated for preservation. Fate has not been as kind to Floods: A National Disgrace. I stored the film badly and it can no longer be projected. Its now only exists in my own distorted memory - perhaps that is fitting.

Evolution of "These Amazing Shadows" theatrical poster.

It's always fun to go back and review how we arrived at various decisions. We're really proud of our theatrical poster designed by Brian Oakes. The design process began centered on the idea of using movie posters from classic films that are on the National Film Registry. We use posters throughout our documentary and to great effect in our end credits (which can be viewed on youtube at the following link: TAS End Credits). Brian wanted to design a poster that would draw a person in to take a close look and to reward them with fascinating details.

In proposal #1 Brian came up with a concept that quickly suggests the general topic of our documentary. The large old style ticket says "movies." Then you get the pleasure of looking at each classic movie poster within our poster. Its active, bright and commercial.

Proposal #2 is a very artistic and nontraditional approach (a personal note - I love it). The movie title is a little hard to read, which draws you in to figure out what is going on. Once you're close you see that there are numerous strips of 35mm motion picture film on a single plane. What movies are they from? It's fun to try to figure them out. It's not commercial, a bit challenging and beautiful.

Brian's final design was a combination of ideas from #1 & #2, plus incorporating the graphic style he had designed for the documentary and the opening title text form. It's dark like a movie theater...filled with amazing shadows...full of detail...and elegant.

"We Got That B Roll!!" and other various beautiful web-abouts.

A screen grab from the very funny video, We Got That B Roll!!.  Directed by Dylan Osborn and written by Sergio Cilli.

To continue our two day run of funny videos - we must share one of our favorites, We Got That B Roll!!. This is a bit of a documentary insider joke. But we know our sophisticated audience will get it. Just in case you need an assist here is the definition of B Roll: secondary footage that adds meaning to a sequence or disguises the elimination of unwanted content. Unfortunately, this funny video cannot be embedded into our blog due the creators wishes. Please click on the following title to take you to this very funny video. We Got That B Roll!!.

Our graphic designer...I mean Director of Motion Graphics, Brian Oakes, has his new website up and it is fantastic. Brian is involved in all kinds of projects including the upcoming HBO doc, Runnin' Rebels of UNLV, which airs on March 12 - just before the beginning of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
http://www.brianoakes.com/

J. Todd Anderson and George Willeman of the radio show, Filmically Perfect.

Since you are already strolling around the Interwebs why not check out George Willeman's website, Filmically Perfect. Okay, it's not George's website but the Internet home of the radio show, Filmically Perfect, on WYSO-FM hosted by Niki Dakota (very cool name!) and features George (one of our interview subjects and our friend at the Library of Congress) and J. Todd Anderson. The three talk about movies that are "perfect." What makes a movie perfect? Go to their website to find out the rules for the perfect movie. You can listen to their show via the web or podcast.

And, finally, our erstwhile These Amazing Shadows website is undergoing a facelift. Stay tuned for the historic release of our new site! It is coming just in time to give you the straight skinny on the plethora of TAS scheduled screenings across the USA beginning in April 2011.

Oscar Talk with Leonard Maltin and his guest Mike Tyson

Oscar Talk with Mike Tyson & Leonard Maltin from Mike Tyson

Noted film critic, Leonard Maltin, one of These Amazing Shadows interview subjects discusses the 2011 Oscar race with former heavyweight champ, Mike Tyson. Very illuminating.

On a more serious note - Leonard was nice enough to post a blurb about These Amazing Shadows on his blog. Thanks Leonard!
Read Leonard's Blog Movie Crazy

Another day in the life at Sundance Version 2.0, Volume 2, Chapter 2

The mini marquee for theater number five at the Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake City.

Another day...whew! They all have blended into each other. We shall begin with last night...Friday night in Salt Lake City. Most films at Sundance have a Salt Lake City screening. It requires leaving the protection of the Sundance bubble with it's festival friendly audiences and driving 45 minutes to the real world. It is conventional wisdom that the audience you get in SLC is a "real" audience and will give you a much better idea of what the public really thinks of your film. As you can see from the above photo of the mini marquee above the entrance to theater 5 we had a lot to live up to. It turns out the full house thought our doc was "Amazing." Once again, whew! Even though it was a late showing and the theater was rather warm - most of the audience stayed for the Q&A. Great questions and many pigeonholed us after for private questions. Really passionate people who love film. Great audience. Thank you SLC!

Composer Peter Golub talking with score mixer Mike Roskelley and his wife Kelly.

We were lucky to be joined last night by our composer Peter Golub and score mixer Mike Roskelley who was with his wife, Kelly. Mike and Kelly live in Salt Lake City. Kelly is a psychiatrist who practices at the local VA hospital. They are such a nice people. Several members of the team that Peter assembled to create his score are from SLC. Prior to the screening we had dinner with Peter who is a wonderful dinner companion because he can speak on such a wide range of subjects. He is one of those rare people who has strong opinions but is not preachy or over bearing. He is just very smart and personable - an unusual combination and a great person to hang with.

Co-editor Alex Calleros does some business on the web at the Sundance House HP computer center.

Our co-editor, Alex Calleros, has seen 124 films over the past ten days. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but he has seen a ton of films and reports to us daily on his favorites (The Details, Circumstance among others). He is the master at getting around town on the confusing free shuttle system. Not only is Alex out in force supporting These Amazing Shadows, attending parties, seeing films - he and two friends have launched a site called Finite Films (see link below). They propose to produce one short film every month over the next year following "constraints" that are submitted by the public to their site. They have a very clever pitch video that you must see that will explain the idea of "constraints." And, yes, they are asking for money and their pitch is really seductive. But, more importantly they are asking for your participation. You can actually collaborate with them. Simply said...these guys are talented so don't miss this opportunity.

http://www.finite-films.com/

Mr. Bradshaw and Mr. Mariano discuss These Amazing Shadows distribution strategies.

We all piled out of the IFC/K-Swiss party at Jean Louis Restaurant and everyone (except me!) was handed a K-Swiss logo striped winter cap. After donning the caps Paul and Frazer transformed before our eyes into rowdy ruffians bent on besmirching the well crafted TAS public image (which was already damaged by my poor showing in the IFC/K-Swiss ping pong tournament...sorry everyone). After they realized that nobody was scared, intimidated or disturbed (well, maybe disturbed) by their gangster behavior we all retreated to our various cushy condos for some hot coco. What does it take to get the Park City police to take notice that some scary dudes are wearing stripy cozy winter caps.

Frazer Bradshaw, director of photography and co-director Paul Mariano.

George Willeman displays how a fashionable man wears a stripy cozy winter cap.

Our documentary has been bought by IFC for their new brand "Sundance Selects"

Logo for the new IFC brand, Sundance Selects.

We're really pleased to announce that our documentary was picked up by IFC under their new banner, "Sundance Selects." They picked out five feature films from the 2011 Sundance line-up to kick-off this new brand (ours is the only documentary!).  IFC will make These Amazing Shadows available via VOD beginning January 22 (the date of our World Premiere) for 30 days. It will be available in approximately 40 million homes on most major cable systems including Bright House, Comcast, Cablevision, Cox, and Time Warner Cable. After the 30 day VOD run our doc will be pulled to allow us a festival and theatrical window. After this "window" is over there will be a television broadcast, VOD and DVD release.

We've worked on this project for two years and often wondered if anyone would care about the story we were trying to tell. So, as you can imagine this IFC sale is kind of encouraging.

It's been quite the adventure to get all our paper work ducks in a row to satisfy the IFC delivery requirements. It is a totally accelerated process. Issues that normally take 60 days to complete are being done in 10. Paul and I tend to be a little cavalier about business type things so thank goodness our producer, Christine O'Malley, and the rest of the production team (much love to Alex Calleros, Larry Ellis, Matt Radecki, Scott Johnson) are serious minded-detailed oriented-deadline prone people.

Maybe the coolest thing to come out of the IFC deal is that they are about to complete a trailer for our show. It a total gas to see the take a trailer editor from NYC has on our story. The trailer will be available next week so keep tuned to this blog.

We live in a world of specialization. In the movie business if you want a trailer, you don't just go out and get any old editor - you get a trailer editor. There are entire businesses dedicated to this specialized art. Take a look at the house that is cutting our trailer:
http://kinetictrailers.com/

You can read more about Sundance Selects and our docs involvement at Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2011/01/sundance-selects-and-sundance-institute-reunite-to-bring-films-from-the-2011-sundance-film-festival-to-a-national-audience-via-on-demand-platform/