In case you're still searching for a last minute Valentine's Day date idea, Redbox has you covered.
Time spotted that through today you can rent a DVD for free using promo code "sweet" at checkout. (They also found a few other freebies being offered today.)
We tested it out to make sure it works.
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And, the code is good. Happy movie viewing!
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view. If you want a double feature, Redbox's Facebook page says the promo code HIGHFIVE should give you a 1-day DVD rental also.
On March 21, Business Insider’s IGNITION Mobile conference in San Francisco will bring together the top minds in mobile. Early bird rates expire on Friday, Feb. 15, so register now.
We’ve gathered a mix of CEOs, founders, and visionaries to share their perspectives on what’s happening now in their industry, what’s next, and how they plan to connect with consumers in what is fast becoming an always-addressable world.
You’ll hear from mobile experts like:
Michael Abbott, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
In the battle of the press, which celebrities are gaining the most buzz?
News app News360 calculated which celebrities have had the most headlines and article mentions so far this year based on data from 100,000 media outlets worldwide.
According to their list, Jay-Z and Beyoncé aren't number one.
After co-founding LXTV, longtime TV executive Morgan Hertzan acquired, and is now co-president of, Plum TV — a lifestyle network reaching more than 5 million of the most affluent viewers in the country.
Among cable channels, its reach is tiny — but that's the point. Plum is targeted at a niche, upscale audience, and it's not for everybody.
Plum TV is currently distributed on broadcast and cable TV in Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, the Hamptons, Colorado, at PlumTV.com, and on Plum TV's video on demand iPhone app.
We talked to Hertzan, who tells Business Insider he is going after the "$100K customer not the $500K customer," to discuss the importance of multi-platform content for a focused, upper-middle class audience.
Business Insider: What makes Plum TV different from other TV networks?
Morgan Hertzan: The thing that makes us unique is that we decided to pursue a strategy of over-the-air broadcast for distribution. It is a very challenging environment for independent networks with cable providers these days and I think that if you are one of the small guys, the way that you can thrive is by having your content in as many places as possible and that includes your content being on things like YouTube and Hulu.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.But I also believe being on linear television — I think you can't be on one place or the other. You need to be everywhere and I think as independent as possible. If you aren't doing deals directly with cable operators it's very difficult to get your content in as many places as you need if you're small, so what we decided to do is work with over-the-air broadcasters. It allows us — because of 'must carry,' you know FCC 'must carry' rules — it allows us to get our contact on cable and also in lots of other places too. On YouTube, on Hulu, on over-the-air, basically anywhere that we want.
BI: Why do you feel it's so important to put all content online? Is that taking away from people needing to tune into Plum or another network if you have the content online already?
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.MH: If people see something in one place and like it, they're more likely to consume it in a lot of other places. So if you see something online and say, 'gosh I really like this show' and you also know it's on TV you're more likely to then watch the TV show. So online is, in addition to being its own revenue stream and its own destination, it's also a great place to generate sampling so people who may not be watching Plum on TV are able to watch it online.
I think there's such overwhelming evidence in our business that each helps the other. I don't believe that one cannibalizes the other, I think that each helps the other. If you look at all the trends, media consumption is rising, people are watching more online, but they are also watching more TV than ever and I think those two things are related because people are watching stuff online and saying 'I love it online and I love it on television and I'm going to watch it more and more and more.'
BI: With Plum, do you see that more people are going to the website or watching it on TV; what do your numbers say?
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.MH: It's difficult for us to get into those kind of metrics. [Hertzan declined to elaborate on ratings and numbers.] If you want an example you can look at something like "Downton Abbey" that premiered on television, had a lot of interest, then went off the air and people downloaded it and watched it on iTunes and consumed it tremendously digitally and then when it came back on TV it had gangbuster ratings. I don't think "Downton" could have a premiere like it did without all of the digital viewing that it's had when it went off television for six months or whatever it been. There's lots of examples like that, where shows are on TV, then go off TV then the audience consumes them and samples them and when they come back on TV the numbers are bigger.
[Sidenote: Plum TV is producing a new show titled "Weekend Aristocrats" — the first reality spin on "Downton Abbey" set to premiere on air February 17 and on Hulu the following day. The show goes inside the struggle of Lords and Ladies to keep their ancestral homes by doing the once unthinkable to earn some extra cash — inviting in American tourists as overnight guests.]
BI:Plum appeals to a different, often wealthier, audience. What is the advantage of audience targeting?
MH: What you're seeing in the media landscape right now are two things that are doing very well. Very big, broad services like ABC or TNT — things that are very, very appealing to everyone — there's still a place for things like the Olympics and the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
But then you have the other side where you're seeing success is in much more targeted programming, and I think that it's difficult to be in the middle, you either want to be the big guy that appeals to everyone or you want to be a kind of great specialty product that has a very loyal and dedicated audience.
I think what we decided to do with Plum is say we are a network that is really focusing in on this idea of living the good life. We're not super upscale, we're not for super-duper wealthy folks but what we really are for is people that enjoy great food, great trips, taking care of themselves, spending time with their families.
I think that's a little bit of a different brand position than there is in the market place. So we're really pursuing this multitask strategy.
We think that in this space there's a place for premium content — original content — and we think that appeals to an audience that appeals to advertisers.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.BI: Do you think that it's more important to have a wealthy audience than a large audience?
MH: I wouldn't say that it's important to have a wealthy audience, I think that it's important to have either a very cohesive target audience or a large audience. The most valuable thing in media is a huge audience, right under that is a very targeted audience. What you don't want to have is a kind of a medium-sized audience that doesn't make sense.
In other words, you don't want to have an audience you can't sell against or market against. You want to have an audience that you can say, 'these are who our viewers are, this is what our brand is and this is what our identity is.' A very clear proposition to both your consumers and also your advertisers and partners as to what that is.
BI: What do you think is the future for programming and original content on independent stations?
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.MH: When I think of what we, everybody in the industry, is seeing is that the content is becoming more platform agnostic, but the number one driver continues to be high quality content. So I think that what we'll see as a trend is a continued investment in premium content regardless to what the platform is. I think that's what people have seen that's been a change over the last couple of years. People used to think "well people will watch anything on any platform." Well, that's not really true. What we've seen is that people will watch anything good on any platform. Not just anything on any platform.
BI: What do you predict, or what are your goals for the next five to ten years with Plum TV?
MH: I only know our goals for the next 12 months.
BI: What are your goals for the next year?
MH: I think our goals for Plum for the next year or two are to increase distribution. We're really focusing on increasing our lineal distribution right now.
BI: How do you plan to go grow distribution?
MH: By having a great product. The number one way to grow distribution is to have a great product that people want. Especially in a world with so much media and so many content creators and where you know everybody has a web camera and can create content and upload it online and you know just an explosion of product. The best way to expand is to grow distribution, is to have a great product.
Former "Melrose Place" actress Amy Locane-Bovenizer was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday after killing a New Jersey woman while drunk driving in 2010.
In November, the 41-year-old actress was found guilty of vehicular homicide in the death of 60-year-old Helene Seeman after her blood-alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit when her SUV hit a car carrying Seeman and her husband, who was injured in the crash.
The actress had previously faced up to ten years in prison, but the judge lowered the maximum sentence because of the hardship on teh actress' two children, one of whom has a medical and mental disability.
The victim's husband, Fred Seeman, reportedly yelled, "What a travesty!" at the judge after the verdict was announced.
If you're celebrating Valentine's Day, you're not the only one to receive chocolates and roses.
Celebrities from Brooklyn Decker to Ryan Seacrest shared inside looks at how they were spending the holiday.
While a majority offered up well wishes, a few shared photos of their days with fans, and late night host Jimmy Kimmel made a call to action for all pranksters.
Justin Timberlake wants you to watch his official "Suit & Tie" video:
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"X-Men Days of Future Past" director Bryan Singer wants to rest:
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Brooklyn Decker wants to enjoy some snacks:
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Some want to spend the day with their respective others:
Randi Zuckerberg, who is best known for being Mark Zuckerberg's sister and creating the single-season Bravo TV show, Startups: Silicon Valley, is on to her next venture.
Zuckerberg was one of the first 25 employees at Facebook. A woman of many ambitions, she left the social network in 2011. She told The New York Times then that she aspired to sing on Broadway, become host a talk-show, and be an active philanthropist.
The memoir is being published by HarperCollins and the deal requires Zuckerberg to write at least one other book. Zuckerberg is planning to write a children's book next.
“I am thrilled to be working with HarperCollins to share some of my own crazy experiences on the front lines of social media and to inspire people of all ages to embrace technology, as well as the new set of social norms that come along with it,” Zuckerberg tells The Associated Press.
It's all in Zuckerberg's plan to make her own success. "Every article written about me now refers to me as Randi Zuckerberg, Mark’s sister,” she told NYT in 2011. “Maybe one day that won’t be what people say about me.”
The problem is, as the book deal shows, she can't seem to cut professional ties with Facebook or her brother.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian's divorce case is returning to court Friday with her attorney urging a speedy end to her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.
Lawyers for the pregnant reality star and the Brooklyn Nets power forward disagree over a timetable for a trial to end the marriage, which Humphries wants annulled.
Kardashian is asking a judge to order a trial as soon as possible. Humphries wants the case to remain on hold until the basketball season ends.
Setting a trial date may be complicated by a filing Thursday by one of Humphries' attorneys to leave the case, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Humphries. The attorney, Marshall Waller, had stated in recent court filings that he was still seeking evidence from several companies that produce Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove their fraud claims.
Kardashian's attorney Laura Wasser has repeatedly sought a trial date so that the marriage can be ended and denies that the couple's televised marriage was based on false pretenses.
The model is due to give birth in July to a child conceived with her boyfriend Kanye West. Each side accuses the other of trying to use Kardashian's pregnancy for a legal advantage.
"It appears from (Kardashisan's) moving papers that what is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy ... is perceived by (Kardashian) as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial," Waller wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
"(Humphries) to his great discredit thinks that because (Kardashian) is now pregnant he can exert some leverage over (her) knowing that she wants to be divorced," Wasser wrote.
Kardashian filed for divorce on Dec. 31, 2011 after 72 days of marriage. The pair was married in a star-studded ceremony that was televised by E! Entertainment Television.
The case has already drawn in West, the producers of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney will determine Friday how the case will proceed. He has previously said the case should be ready for trial early this year.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
In case you've stayed up at night wondering where the name Beyoncé came from, the singer's uncle revealed a family secret at the premiere of her HBO documentary. B's maternal uncle Roland Beyince says,“My sister Tina [Knowles] didn’t think we had enough boys in the family to keep the [Beyince] name going, so she gave Beyoncé our last name as the first name."
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are releasing their own brand of wine from their French estate, Chateau Miraval. Pitt said in a statement on Wednesday, “We are intimately involved and quite enthused over the wine project with our friends the Perrin family.” The wine is a rosé, formerly called “Pink Floyd,” and is being re-branded as “Miraval.”
Meanwhile, Brad Pitt's profile has mysteriously disappeared from China's version of Twitter.Despite his global celebrity, Pitt is no favorite among Chinese authorities. The actor has been banned from entering the country since his movie "Seven Years in Tibet" was released in 1997.
"Downton Abbey" star Maggie Smith doesn't watch her own show. "It's frustrating, I always see things I want to do differently," she says on "60 Minutes." But, she is "very pleased" with its reception and is proud of her work.
While we included Han Solo and Chewy on the list, we didn't consider Ewan McGregor's Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. (After all, we saw a lot of his story throughout all six films.)
Turns out McGregor thinks a film of his own would be a good idea.
While the actor sat down with MTV to discuss his new film "Jack and the Giant Slayer" he brought up an idea he has for a new film.
"The only bit that I could get away with doing is after the last one I made, 'Episode III,' before Alec Guinness, there's that period where he's in the desert," said McGregor. "And, I don't know what he did in the desert."
Like your roses intensely floral, with wild lily aromas and notes of strawberry and raspberry? Also like the movie Mr and Mrs Smith?
Then chances are you'll raise a glass to the news that the stars of that film, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, are to put their name to a plonk with exactly those attributes.
Next month will see the first batch of Miraval go on sale, produced from the vineyard attached to the couple's French estate, Château Miraval.
Made in collaboration with veteran Gallic wine family Perrin, the wine was previously known as Pink Floyd, christened by the chateau's previous owner, American vintner Tom Bove, from whom the pair purchased the property in 2012.
A statement from Brad Pitt reported by Bloomberg suggests both he Jolie are excited about their lateral move into wine production. "We are intimately involved and quite enthused over the wine project with our friends the Perrin family." A red and white are due later in the year and all bottles will be organic.
The stars are following in the boozy footsteps of a rollcall of famous film-makers who have dabbled in alcohol. Francis Ford Coppola's Inglenook estate pumps out eight high-end vintages, including "classic library wine" Rubicon; the shop also sells china snack platters and pitchers in the shape of an owl ("Make a hoot with your table. Owls are a symbol of wisdom. Price: $325.00).
A celebrity reality show featuring the murdered girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius will still be broadcast on South African television despite her death, the producers said Friday.
The pre-recorded show filmed in an exotic location in Jamaica features the blonde model Reeva Steenkamp and several local personalities competing for one million rand ($113,500) prize money.
Producers of "Tropika Island of Treasure" said they had decided not to shelve the show, which will premiere on Saturday, two days after she was shot dead at Pistorius's home on Valentine's Day.
"As we grieve today with Reeva's family and friends and struggle to make sense of this shocking tragedy, it has taken much deliberation to come to the decision to continue screening Tropika Island of Treasure 5 as planned," executive producer Samantha Moon said in a statement.
"This week's episode will be dedicated to Reeva's memory."
A weeping Pistorius appeared in a Pretoria court on Friday charged with murder over the killing of his 29-year-old girlfriend.
A special tribute will be broadcast ahead of Saturday's show at 6:30 pm (1630 GMT).
Online advertisements for the series shows a beaming Steenkamp clad in a bikini and other skimpy clothing.
The show's website carries a picture of burning candle with a message: "We are deeply saddened and extend our condolences to Reeva's family and friends."
The series, now in its fifth season, is popular with local viewers.
The hour-long show, screened on Saturday evenings is described as "pure adrenaline-fuelled drama... Whether diving off 75-foot Jamaican cliffs into the ocean, recreating cool runnings or meeting Jamaican celebrities".
Born in the southern city of Port Elizabeth, Steenkamp moved to Johannesburg six years ago to pursue her modelling career.
The model, who had been dating the double amputee sprinter, was shot dead inside Pistorius's Pretoria home on Thursday. The pair had been dating since late last year.
On her Twitter profile Steenkamp described herself as a "Law Graduate, Child of God" and, regularly mentioned Pistorius, 26, in her posts, referring to him as her "boo" and "an amazing person".
The sequel to "The Amazing Spider-Man began filming February 5. Every day since, director Marc Webb has been sharing a set photo per day on Twitter.
While we've seen photos of an electrician and a piece of Oscorp, yesterday Webb finally teased a piece of the new Spider-Man suit Andrew Garfield will be wearing in a Telly video.
It's nothing huge, but it's a look at Spidey's eyes.
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Quickly after the video appeared online, fans began speculating on Twitter the film may be featuring Spider-Man's black suit.
This would make sense with reports of Felicity Jones joining the cast, as, who we assume would be, Black Cat. Fans of the comics know the new suit is introduced with her appearance once the original blue and red suit gets destroyed.
If you're in or around NYC and want a chance to see the crew in action, we hear they're filming around 71st St and 2nd ave today.
Designer Kimberly Ovitz launched her self-titled label in 2009 with a desire to translate her love of art, architecture and nature into the world of women’s contemporary fashion.
Four years later, Ovitz — the daughter of CAA co-founder and former President of the Walt Disney Company, Michael Ovitz — commanded the attention of the likes of Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, designers Tory Burch and J. Crew's Jenna Lyons at her fall-winter 2013 show last week during New York Fashion Week.
"I am usually in fashion hibernation for the month of January," Ovitz tells Business Insider. "I stay at the office later than usual, especially the last few weeks leading up to the show. I am usually there until midnight."
But even after the runway show is complete and the clothes are on store hangers, Ovitz's work never ends.
"I go directly into market after fashion week so life is not totally back to normal until the end of February," the 29-year-old designer tells us. "By the end of February I already have the next concept and am ready to start doing research."
But in the end, she says putting her personal life on hold and the late hours at the office are all worth it.
"I was so happy with the way the show turned out and was so thrilled about all the positive reviews," Ovitz continued. "My family was very proud of me."
Calm before the storm on the runway.
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I rarely do my hair because I don’t like spending the time to do it. I came to the show site with wet hair and someone on the Aveda hair team treated me to a blow dry. Aveda did an amazing job transforming all the models' hair into corseted braids to complement the collection.
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Looking on at a dress rehearsal an hour before the show to time the pace that the models walk to the music.
PETA is known for its controversy-causing, shock-filled advertising featuring celebrity endorsers, and the latest ad in their 'Go Vegan' campaign is no different.
The ad starts off by defining the word "suffocate" as "to kill by preventing air from reaching the lungs or gills," and then shows Joaquin Phoenix dramatically drowning. The voiceover says, "In water, humans drown just as fish suffocate on land. It's slow and painful and frightening. Put yourself in their place. Try to relate."
The animal rights organization wanted the ad to run during next weekend's Academy Awards, but ABC refused to take it, the group claims. In a statement to E! News, PETA said, "Capitalizing on the buzz surrounding Phoenix's critically acclaimed performance in 'The Master,' PETA moved to place the ad during the Academy Awards, but ABC deemed the video to be too political and controversial to run during the broadcast," PETA said in a statement to E! News. (To be fair to ABC, it's not clear PETA could have afforded the fee.)
The spot is reportedly set to run during the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' post-Oscars show.
Tom Cruise's $50 million lawsuit against Bauer Publishing Company, the publishers behind In Touch and Life & Style, will touch on the publishing company's alleged pattern of religious discrimination, according to court papers filed Thursday.
A Joint Rule 26(f) Report, filed by Cruise and Bauer in U.S. District Court in Central California on Thursday, lays out the parameters of the discovery process for the trial, offering hints at what tactics both sides might employ.
In the report, Cruise's legal team says that it believes discovery will need to be taken regarding "Bauer's history of bigotry and hatred toward minority religious groups and their members."
On Thursday, an investigative report by TheWrap uncovered Bauer Media Group's deep connections to Neo-Nazi magazines and pornography, with titles such as "Inglorious Bitches" and "Band of Bastards."
The report's reference to minority religious groups presumably would pertain to Cruise's standing as a Scientologist. It also says that Cruise's side expects that discovery will need to be taken regarding "Bauer's policies and practices with respect to publishing stories about Tom Cruise, Suri Cruise and Scientology or other minority religious groups."
The report also says that discovery will probably be sought regarding the "identity of Defendants' sources, and communications with those sources," though that will most likely be met with resistance by Bauer.
"Based upon the discovery that Plaintiff has propounded, Defendants anticipate asserting the applicable shield law(s) and other privileges that protect the identification of confidential sources," the report reads.
Bauer also brings up the subject of Scientology in the report. The company's legal team says that it believes discovery will be necessary for the "role, if any, that Plaintiff's membership in the Church of Scientology played in his decisions regarding his visitation and communications with Suri Cruise after his separation and divorce."
Lawyers for Bauer also say it will probably be necessary to explore his daughter "Suri Cruise's mental and emotional state following her parents' separation and divorce."
Cruise filed his defamation suit in October, claiming that Life & Style and In Touch falsely claimed that he had abandoned his daughter, Suri, following his split from wife Katie Holmes.
The actor's attorney, Bert Fields, called the tabloids' reports "a disgusting, vicious lie" and has characterized Bauer as "serial defamers."
The report says the trial is expected to last five days, if it makes it to court.
For those Americans who are deployed or working out of foreign duty stations, the Armed Forces Network television can get pretty ... let's be nice and say, "dry."
"I'm coming from AFN in Japan and once I left I realized how ineffective that message was," says Sgt. Andrew Milner, a public affairs Marine. "I only watched (the show) because I worked on it and I had to watch it. Everyone I knew didn’t watch."
As media changes though, the Marine Corps has been forced to change or lose their audience. Everyone who's seen it remembers how the overbearing and uber-boring officer in "Good Morning Vietnam" almost lost an audience captivated by the humor and character of Air Force Airman and radio broadcaster Adrian Cronauer (played by Robin Williams).
Not quite trying to emulate Cronauer, Sgt. Todd Hunter still demonstrates more animation than is commonly preferred in the Marines.
"Our biggest warning was about bearing, because we're Marines, but I think we toe the line pretty well," said Hunter.
"It’s a Daily Show meets Tosh.0 meets military public affairs," says Hunter. "Look at the way our target audience is 18 to 24 year olds, junior enlisted and the millennial generation."
Hunter said they were losing their audience, and so, failing in their mission to "inform and educate."
Though they don't plan on scrapping the original format of disseminating news and information, they hope the show will capture a new, younger, broader ear — taking cues from the success of the popularity of the Marine-inspired The Duffel Blog and Terminal Lance.
Those platforms go farther than anything Corps-sanctioned can — in fact, Hunter says the just the name caught the eye of more than one senior Marine, due in no small part to a growing alcohol problem in Marine ranks.
Nonetheless, the gents expect to stay in business, and say they'll avoid mistakes of previous iterations, like the Air Force show "Crewed," which was delayed for review after only one episode.
We've gone through 2012's top directors, actors, highest-paid CEOs, and industry insiders to come up with the most influential people in Hollywood of the past year.
From Blue Ivy to Betty White, see who is making heads turn.
AGE 1: Blue Ivy
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Daughter of Superstars Beyoncé and Jay-Z
What makes her powerful: We've barely caught any glimpses of the first daughter of Hip Hop, but with two musically inclined parents, Blue has some very big shoes — and vocals — to fill.
AGE 2: Abel Arnett
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Son of Amy Poehler and Will Arnett
What makes him powerful: Though Abel's comedy power house parents may have split this year after nine years of marriage, there's no way the two year old didn't get the funny bone from the combination of his parents' comedic genius.
AGE 3: Mason Dash Disick
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Son of reality stars Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick
What makes him powerful: Mason just turned three in December, but he's been getting face time on "Keeping up with the Kardashians" for some time.
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