Howard and Karen Baldwin, who are producing the movie of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, have agreed to speak at The Atlas Society/Objectivist Center Summer Seminar. In consequence of this development, TOC is extending the early registration deadline (which entitles you to an 18% discount) by one week, to May 15th.
The Baldwins, who co-produced the Oscar-winning movie “Ray,” will be at the TOC event on Friday, July 7, and will likely be in the afternoon according to current information. TOC will be rearranging their schedule to accomodate this, so be sure to check for updates at their site.
Category: The Atlasphere
All things Atlasphere can be found here, columns, podcasts, interesting anecdotes, and more.
Summer at Camp Millionaire
According to MSN Money, Summer Camps that offer pro-business programs are becoming increasingly popular around the U.S. A typical program teaches basic economics, budgeting, how the stock market works and how to run a small business. Educational entrepreneurs are tapping to a growing demand from parents and kids for a way to learn “the facts of life about managing and investing money.” According to a financial planner who runs such a camp:
Being a financial planner, I’ve worked with people for many years. It’s frustrating to me that so many of them don’t have basic knowledge. At their age, it’s hard to change their habits after they have developed problems with credit. I decided that teaching kids when they are young is the only way to go.
Read the article here.
'Keeper of the Flame' Endorsed by Rush Limbaugh
Leading talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh recently endorsed, on the air, Henry Mark Holzer‘s new book, The Keeper of the Flame: The Supreme Court Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas.
Holzer was Ayn Rand’s lawyer in the 1960s, and his new book represents an important contribution to the public debate about Thomas’s legacy on the Supreme Court, because it provides objective information about Thomas’s actual decisions, helping counter the innuendo and ad hominem public attacks that Thomas has suffered since his nomination to the high bench.
The Atlasphere recently published an excerpt from the book as a feature column, under the title “Clarence Thomas: The Keeper of the Flame.”
Also, economist Thomas Sowell has penned a glowing review of the book (which we will be publishing soon as an op-ed). This is no doubt how the book came to Limbaugh’s attention.
Limbaugh himself has a (justifiably) mixed reputation among Objectivists, but his public prominence will no doubt help bring this important book to the attention of the many individuals who should be reading it. In the past, Limbaugh has also recommended that his listeners should read Atlas Shrugged.
The audio recording of Rush’s endorsement is available online.
The book itself is available for purchase through Amazon.com.
OCON 2006 in Boston
As a reminder, the Ayn Rand Institute will be holding its OCON 2006 (Objectivist conference) at Boston’s Seaport Hotel from June 30th to July 8th. The early registration deadline has passed, but student pricing is still available.
From Yaron Brook’s announcement:
[T]he real attraction of the conference is, of course, our lineup of speakers and courses. Attendees are still talking about last summerâ??s offerings, and we are confident that this summerâ??s courses will only add to the Objectivist summer conference legacy. Speakers include Objectivist luminaries such as Harry Binswanger, John Ridpath, Peter Schwartz and Mary Ann Sures, and topics range from ethics to education, art to opera, politics to perception, and from the ancient Greeks to the corruption of 20th-century philosophy. There are nine general session lectures and sixteen optional courses to choose from, as well as a variety of special events and dinners. Attendees may register for the entire nine-day conference, or use our à la carte registration options to choose those parts that best fit your schedule and budget.
See the Objectivist Conferences web site for more information about this conference and instructions for registering.
TOC Summer Seminar Early Registration
The early registration deadline for The Objectivist Center’s 17th Summer Seminar is Monday, May 8, 2006. Register before this deadline passes and save 18%. You can register online at The Objectivist Center’s registration website or by calling 800-374-1776. For more information about the seminar and registration, visit The Objectivist Center’s website
Indian Actress Raageshwari, Ayn Rand Fan
A new article in the Times of India delivers yet another beautiful Indian celebrity who is an admirer of Ayn Rand’s work: Singer, actress, and anchorwoman Raageshwari.
It is Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged which has helped singer and actor Raageshwari acquire a similar broad perspective of life. “In this world everybody tries to exploit the creative mind for their own benefit. A fact which I resented greatly and which caused me untold trauma till I read this wonderful book.
“It made me less angry about such situations and gave me the strength to fight them.” However, it was Robert James Waller’s Bridges of Madison County which keeps the hope in this young romantic’s heart alive “that I will meet my soulmate someday. And hopefully, I will not be married by then!” she chuckles.
You can learn more about Raageshwari at India-Today and in her bubbly culinary profile at Upper Crust India, from which this photo was taken.
In the past, we’ve noted several other beautiful Indian celebrities who are also fans of Ayn Rand’s writings: Miss “India Earth” Niharika Singh, actress Preity Zinta, and India’s first woman astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, who was tragically killed in the Columbia shuttle explosion. Then there’s India’s richest woman, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw. And fashion model Lakshmi Rana has also dipped her toe in the world of Atlas Shrugged, though we don’t yet know what she thought.
Let’s just say, if you’re a single fellow looking for a beautiful and intelligent bride — or even just someone to lust after — you should not overlook the jewels of India.
And we’ll give a free Atlasphere subscription to anyone who can persuade one of the starlets above to join the Atlasphere’s dating service! 🙂
Update on Oliver Stone's Fountainhead Movie
The Variety article that has sparked so much discussion about an Atlas Shrugged movie also provided this update on the prospects of a new Fountainhead movie:
Oliver Stone was attached to direct a remake of “Fountainhead” for Warner Bros. and Paramount, but the project has languished in development. Along the way, Pitt expressed interest in playing Roark.
Too bad the project has been languishing; in many ways it’s a much easier novel than Atlas Shrugged to adapt for film.
Plans for an Anthem movie have also been bandied about in recent years, although there seems to be little news about its progress.
In other Fountainhead-movie-related news, Kentucky.com has an article that provides a handy overview of the career of Patricia Neal, who played Dominique in the 1949 Fountainhead movie.
Atlas Shrugged Movie to Come in Multiple Parts?
More on the development of an Atlas Shrugged movie, in an announcement from the Objectivist Center:
“Atlas” Movie One Step Closer! The Inside Scoop
April 27, 2006 — The effort to film Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged has just taken a big step forward. Daily Variety reports a leaked story that Lionsgate, the independent studio whose movie “Crash” recently won the Oscar for best picture, will be distributing the film.
We’ve confirmed today that a deal is going forward under which Lionsgate will take an option to finance and distribute the film. The executive producers are John Aglialoro, a Trustee of The Atlas Society and The Objectivist Center, and Howard Baldwin, whose movie “Ray” won an Oscar for best actor (Jamie Foxx). Lionsgate will put around $35 million into the film.
The film will be based on a script of the first part of the novel, written by Jim V. Hart and reviewed by David Kelley, founder of The Atlas Society-The Objectivist Center. Hart also penned the script for the film “Contact,” based on the novel by astronomer Carl Sagan. It is anticipated “Atlas” will be a multi- part film.
So far no actors have been cast; that will be done by the director, once one is chosen, in conjunction with the executive producers and Lionsgate.
Variety also reports that stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are interested in parts in the film. This will come as no surprise to subscribers of The New Individualist. The current issue features the two on the cover, and in an article by the publication’s editor, Robert Bidinotto, which looks at the interest in Rand’s works among Hollywood’s elite.
The New York Post is also reporting today on these same developments.
UPDATE: The original story in Variety, which spawned much of the media chatter on this topic over the past few days, gives a lot of useful background, including this:
In 2003, [producers Howard and Karen Baldwin] acquired the film rights to the novel from Aglialoro, a New York businessman, after launching Crusader Entertainment with Philip Anschutz. [Writer James V.] Hart was hired at that time to adapt.
Anschutz, however, ultimately decided not to make the movie.
The Baldwins then took the project with them when they left Crusader and formed the Baldwin Entertainment Group.
“What we’ve always needed was a studio that had the same passion for this project that we and John have,” said Baldwin.
Generally speaking, Lionsgate keeps production budgets below $25 million. “Atlas” is likely to cost north of $30 million, but the studio will reduce its exposure through international pre-sales and co-financing partners. Actors would likely take less money upfront — a common practice for the indie.
Atlas Shrugged Movie: Lionsgate Moving Forward
New Individualist editor Robert Bidinotto reports that Lionsgate is moving forward with its plans to produce the Atlas Shrugged movie:
According to Variety, “Ray” producers Howard and Karen Baldwin believe they’ve cracked the challenge of turning the 1,100 page novel “Atlas Shrugged” into a manageable feature. Lionsgate has acquired worldwide distribution.
And reportedly both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are very interested in the project:
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been linked to the film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s bestselling novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’.
Variety reports that the couple are rumoured to be considering starring as lead characters Dagny Taggart and John Galt.
‘Atlas Shrugged’ tells the story of the economic collapse of the US in the future when American industrialists go on strike and retreat to a hideaway in the mountains.
The book espouses Rand’s philosophy of objectivism, which the author described as: “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
Both Pitt and Jolie are fans of Rand’s work.
Lionsgate Films, who like to keep their films under a $25M budget, are looking to spend north of $30M for Atlas Shrugged.
Bidinotto promises that “The New Individualist WILL have exclusive, behind-the-scenes news and interviews with the principals about this coming project in the very near future. (John Aglialoro, who owns the screen rights, is a co-executive producer on the project, and also serves on the Board of The Objectivist Center — the publisher of The New Individualist.)”
About the Atlasphere's Business Model
This morning one of our members sent us the following message:
Guys at the Atlasphere — as an investor in a couple dating sites, and the CEO of a pretty large internet subscription company — I thought I’d point out that it’s most common to show the pictures to basic members, so that they get really motivated to contact the other party and then pay to upgrade. Hiding the photos is hiding your best sales tool!
We receive some version of this question several times a year, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to answer in public, since no doubt many other people have wondered the same thing: Why doesn’t the Atlasphere adopt the same business model used at other social networking sites, of showing photos for free?
As it happens, the Atlasphere’s subscription rate — the rate at which our free members elect to purchase paid subscriptions — is about six times the industry average.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean we’re taking in millions of dollars each year. We’re a tiny fraction of the size of ordinary social networking sites, since our target market is limited to admirers of Ayn Rand’s novels — and so our base of potential customers is accordingly much smaller as well.
I’m not certain why our subscription rate is so much higher than the industry average, but my guess is that it has to do with the strong interest that Rand fans have in getting to know one another.
The Atlasphere seems to have struck into an untapped market in Objectivism: The desire for meaningful one-on-one contact, without the hassles and aggravation of participating in the (always controversial and time-consuming) online discussion forums.
This is why we’ve never had discussion forums at the Atlasphere, and why we’re unlikely to do so any time soon. (Another question we receive regularly.)
Returning to the original question: Would our subscription rates be even higher if we allowed members to see one another’s photos for free? We were curious to find out, so we tried adopting this membership structure during the 4th quarter of 2004 (Oct – Dec).
During this time, our subscription rates immediately dropped, by more than 80%, and did not recover until we reverted to our old membership structure.
So that’s our answer to the question raised above: Been there, done that, and found out it doesn’t work well at all for our target market.
If you have any other ideas for improving the Atlasphere, please (by all means) drop us a note! We welcome ideas for further improving our service.