North Korea is not a fan of Seth Rogen's latest film, "The Interview," a comedy about the assassination of its leader, Kim Jong-un, which is never going to see the light of day.
North Korea threatened violence if the film was released, which spurred Sony Pictures to cancel the flick altogether after a massive cyberattack from North Korean hackers.
Stephen Colbert interviewed Rogen a few days ago, before Sony canceled the movie's release that was originally scheduled for Christmas Day.
Rogen seemed nervous and almost jumped out of his chair when Colbert shifted positions. He made a comment about weed to which Colbert replied, "Weed is not really the problem here. It's going toe to toe with the North Koreans in thermonuclear conflict."
Colbert kept the interview light but asked some serious questions.
"[Your film has] upset the North Koreans," Colbert stated. "Did you think it would upset the North Koreans? Did you picture them as a jolly regime?"
Rogen admitted that he thought the movie might cause a stir.
"We did not think they would love the concept of the movie to be totally honest," Rogen said. "But more than anything we wanted to make a movie that had one foot in reality. That’s something we as filmmakers like and think is interesting as audience members as well."
Colbert then asked if it was appropriate to make jokes about real things in the world, and asked if Rogen had considered changing Kim Jong-un's name.
"I personally think it is appropriate to make jokes about real things," Rogen said with a nervous laugh. "We thought maybe we could inject some slight relevance." He said he thought about changing the leader's name but reconsidered. "We thought, 'Whose feelings are we trying to spare by doing that? Kim Jong-un?'"
Rogen says he was fascinated by what was happening in North Korea and did as much research as "humanly possible" before directing the film. He also says he tried to make Kim Jong-un seem "adorable" in the movie.
Sony blew it Wednesday by pulling "The Interview" from theaters without coming up with an alternative way to distribute the movie.
First, let's backtrack a bit.
The big theater chains made the right decision not to show "The Interview." The hackers or terrorists or whatever you want to call them made a real threat. They even invoked 9/11.
And while the Department of Homeland Security said it probably wasn't credible, it's not worth the risk of the GOP or a sympathizer making good on that threat. It would've taken just one incident for everyone to start pointing fingers and howling at the theaters for not doing enough to preempt that kind of violence.
Still, Sony had a big opportunity to stick it to the hackers and come out on top. It could've said it would release the movie online through its own streaming service Crackle. It could also distribute it through Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, iTunes, or any one of the other online video services. The movie would reach more people and could potentially make more money than it would have made in theaters. (The buzz around the whole hacking thing would help too.)
But that's not what Sony is doing.
Instead, Sony has decided to shelve the movie and not distribute it at all, in any form. Some members of the press got to see it early. It also leaked on some file-sharing sites, but it's illegal to download it. Everyone else is out of luck. You'll have a better chance finding a copy of the elusive "Star Wars Holiday Special" than seeing "The Interview" this Christmas.
There's no good reason for Sony to do this other than protect itself from a bunch more embarrassing emails leaking out. That's not a good enough reason, and it sets a dangerous precedent. Hacker groups now know they can bring a major corporation to its knees just by threatening leaks on the same level as the one Sony experienced over the last few weeks. A Sony spokesperson declined to comment.
Sony's decision has already had a ripple effect through the industry.
On Wednesday, New Regency scrapped plans for a movie starring Steve Carrel that takes place in North Korea.
On Thursday, Paramount told theaters to stop playing "Team America." Like "The Interview," "Team America" also satirizes North Korea and then-dictator Kim Jong Il. It came out over 10 years ago, but Paramount appears to be playing it safe by sending a message to hackers that it doesn't want to be hacked either.
Who knows what's next?
It's clear now that this isn't just about public safety. The hackers have instilled a legitimate fear in the movie studios. By caving to the hackers, Sony set us up for an assault on our right to free speech by a group of anonymous pranksters. (Remember, it's still not clear whether or not the hackers have ties to North Korea.)
Sony had one chance to make everything right and potentially beat the hackers at their own game by releasing the film online to a massive audience. Instead, Sony blew it and gave the hackers even more power than they had before.
I mean, really? REALLY?? These gigantic corporations, most of which could buy North Korea with pocket change, are declining to show a film because Kim Jong-Un objects to being mocked?
The level of corporate cowardice here astonishes me. It's a good thing these guys weren't around when Charlie Chaplin made THE GREAT DICTATOR. If Kim Jong-Un scares them, Adolf Hitler would have had them shitting in their smallclothes.
Even Sony, which made the movie, is going along. There are thousands of small independent theatres across the country, like my own, that would gladly screen THE INTERVIEW, regardless of the threats from North Korea, but instead of shifting the film to those venues, Sony has cancelled its scheduled Christmas rollout entirely.
I haven't seen THE INTERVIEW. I have no idea how good or bad a film it is. It might be hilarious. It might be stupid and offensive and outrageous. (Actually, I am pretty sure about the 'outrageous' part). It might be all of the above.
That's not the point, though. Whether it's the next CITIZEN KANE or the next PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, it astonishes me that a major Hollywood film could be killed before release by threats from a foreign power and anonymous hackers.
For what it's worth, the Jean Cocteau Cinema [Martin's theater in Santa Fe] will be glad to screen THE INTERVIEW (assuming that Sony does eventually release the film for theatrical exhibition, rather than streaming it or dumping it as a direct-to-DVD release), should it be made available to us. Come to Santa Fe, Seth, we'll show your film for you.
Martin owns the the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, where, in a follow up blog post, the author says he tried to show "Team America" instead of the yanked "Interview."
But that all fell apart on Thursday when that movie was pulled, too. He writes:
The cowardice is contagious, it would appear.
In the comments to my last post, several of my readers suggested that we follow the lead of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin and show TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE at the Cocteau, since Sony has wimped out and pulled THE INTERVIEW.
It sounded like a great idea, so we took immediate steps to do so.
Only to learn that Paramount has now decided to withdraw TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE from exhibition. We won't be allowed to show the film, and neither will Alamo, nor any of the other independent venues that wanted to use TA:WP to replace THE INTERVIEW.
Regal. AMC. Cinemark. Sony. And now Paramount. Where does it end?
I guess I should contact our new North Korean masters to ask them what movies we will be allowed to show at the Cocteau.
Check out more of George R.R. Martin's opinionated LiveJournal here.Current mood: "pissed off."
Actor George Clooney was so worried that Sony would cave to the demands of the hackers who broke into its computer systems, he circulated a letter to other major Hollywood players asking them to stand with Sony in solidarity.
Not a single person signed, Clooney told Deadline.
He speculates that the people in other studios and entertainment businesses were afraid that their own companies would be hacked and embarrassing emails would be leaked, as happened to several Sony executives.
"Nobody wanted to be the first to sign on. Now, this isn’t finger-pointing on that. This is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made."
The people claiming responsibility for the hack demanded that Sony pull "The Interview," a movie that mocked North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Several reports claim that the U.S. government believes North Korea was behind the hack, but government officials haven't officially said so yet.
Part of Clooney's petition read, "we fully support Sony’s decision not to submit to these hackers’ demands."
But in fact, the industry did give in. Several major movie theater chains pulled the movie after hackers put out a note warning "Remember the 11th of September 2001." Then Sony canceled the theatrical release entirely, and is not currently planning to distribute the movie at all.
Clooney doesn't blame Sony for the decision, but he does think that other movies with controversial themes are now going to have a much harder time getting released. "The truth is, you’re going to have a much harder time finding distribution now. And that’s a chilling effect."
The New Year is just around the corner, which means it's resolution season.
To help you make the most of the change in calendar, we asked industry leaders and world-changing entrepreneurs, including Arianna Huffington and Mark Cuban, what they're resolved to do in 2015.
'Shark Tank' investor Daymond John wants to hit the slopes more often.
"New Year's Day is when I like to reset my 10 goals. Let me think of a fun one..." he says. "I'd like to start to snowboard more. I'd like to try to start to do the half pipe."
Drybar founder Alli Webb hopes to spend more time with her children.
"The very first thing that popped into my head was to spend more time with my boys," says Webb. "My older son Grant is almost 10, my youngest, Kit, is 7 — the last few years have been so crazy busy for me, and I don't want to miss this magical time in my kids' lives when they still actually want to hang out with their mom!"
Cofounder and CEO of The Global Poverty Project Hugh Evans is committed to ending extreme poverty.
He says 2015 "is a pivotal year for the movement to end extreme poverty by 2030."
"My resolution is to use Global Citizen's unique mix of disruptive events, grassroots organizing, and digital campaigning to hold our world leaders accountable to create a world where clean water and toilets are taken for granted, where no one goes to bed hungry, children have access to immunizations, and no child is denied an education. I am committed to realizing this world without extreme poverty."
The recent Sony Pictures hack has everyone thinking of what would happen if all their private emails and messages were leaked, and that means business is booming for confidential messaging apps.
"We continue to see a big surge in downloads," Mark Cuban tells Business Insider.
Cuban's app, Cyber Dust, is described as "WhatsApp meets Snapchat," and allows users to send messages and photos that self-destruct after 30 seconds.
Cuban is also a prime example of how some confidential messaging apps are now more secure and off-the-record than email clients. Just last week, hackers released an email conversation between Cuban and Sony Pictures Television President Steve Mosko, where it was revealed Cuban wasn't happy with his compensation on Shark Tank.
Cuban says it could have been worse.
"I moved the negotiations for Shark Tank to Cyber Dust before the hack," Cuban said, pointing out that only the negotiations carried out over email leaked, while the rest carried out through his app remain safe. "The fact they remain private proves it works."
Other confidential messaging apps like Confide have also seen a big spike in downloads as people search for a solution that will keep their messages safe.
"I would be comfortable saying best week by far across all metrics," Confide cofounder Jon Brod tells Business Insider.
Confide's killer feature is its screenshot protection, which forces users to drag a finger across each word to reveal the message beneath.
This makes it extremely difficult to take screenshots, as only part of the message is visible at any time, and multiple screenshots are impossible as each message self-destructs as soon as the first screenshot is detected.
But while confidential messaging apps like Confide and Cyber Dust are great for the average conversation, people use email very differently than a messaging app. For example, many of the emails between Sony execs and the directors, actors, and startup founders they were conducting business with often discussed a contract or referenced past emails, which can be tough to transfer into the instant-message style of apps like Cyber Dust or Confide.
So where's the email version of these apps?
Cuban didn't specify if an email version of Cyber Dust was being developed, but he did recommend using an application like Blue Stacks, which allows users to use their smartphone apps on their desktop or laptop computer.
Unfortunately, creating a screenshot-proof, self-destructing email app brings with it additional challenges.
Confide's screenshot prevention trick hinges on the limited functionality of smartphones. But it's far easier to use your mouse to take a quick screenshot of your computer's screen — and there's just more room for people to get creative and take advantage of loopholes.
"We are very focused on the question of photos and documents," Brod tells us. "We are working on desktop because we think that's incredibly relevant and important to our target audience. We are very enamored with email, such that we have begun a level of Confide integration into email."
Jeff Grossman, Confide's chief product officer, mentioned two separate challenges with integrating Confide into email: There's end-to-end encryption, and then the disappearing and screenshot-proof part. Grossman says not only does the email server responsible for transporting emails need to be encrypted, but in order for emails to self-destruct, "you need to be able to trust any clients that interact with the service."
There are plenty of additional technical challenges to be worked out before we see a Confide email version hit the market, but the Confide team knows the demand has never been greater.
"Yes there are technical challenges in all of this," Brod says, "but I think we've done a decent job overcoming those."
In the meantime, if you or your company is looking for a safe way to communicate, you can download Confide right here and Cyber Dust here.
In the email, the hackers say Sony made the right decision pulling "The Interview," which portrayed the assassination of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.
US officials believe the hackers were backed by North Korea.
Those hackers promised not to leak any more private Sony data unless Sony reverses its decision and distributes the movie anyway.
Here's the email, as read on air by Stelter:
It's very wise that you have made a decision to cancel the release of "The Interview." It will be very useful for you ... We ensure the security of your data unless you make additional trouble.
According to TheWrap, several Sony employees received another message from a person claiming to be the head of the "Guardians of Peace" warning the studio to not release "The Interview" in any form.
Here's the message in full from TheWrap:
“Now we want you never let the movie released, distributed or leaked in any form of, for instance, DVD or piracy.”
“we still have your private and sensitive data” and claims that they will “ensure the security of your data unless you make additional trouble.”
“And we want everything related to the movie, including its trailers, as well as its full version down from any website hosting them immediately.”
Sony decided to pull "The Interview" premiere on Wednesday after five of the top movie-theater chains said they wouldn't show the movie following threats by the hackers, known as Guardians of Peace (GOP).
According to the movie's official site, there are five different ways you can view the movie.
2D (standard viewing) 3D HFR (more on this in a moment) HFR 3D IMAX 3D
A lot of your movie-viewing decision is going to revolve around HFR.
What is HFR?
HFR stands for high frame rate. Typically, we view movies in 24 frames per second (fps). Director Peter Jackson pushed the boundaries of cinema by releasing all of "The Hobbit" movies in 48 fps. This means your brain is processing double the images it's accustomed to seeing in one second.
Okay, So How Does This Look On Screen?
It's a bit jarring, to be honest. Since you're not used to processing that many images at once, items look sped up almost to the point where they look cartoon-ish for the first 15-30 minutes as your eyes adjust to the format.
Don't get me wrong. There are positives to HFR as well. I've never seen images look more clear or crisp on the big screen. This is something revolutionary that will look incredible once it's perfected on screen.
Should I See 'The Hobbit' In High Frame Rate?
I don't know about you, but when I head out to see a film, I want to get lost in the movie without my attention being diverted by the nature of the filmmaking. While your eyes adjust during the first scenes of the movie you're focusing so much on all the small movements taking place on screen (it can be a bit overwhelming) that you may miss out on some of the fun of the huge opening scene.
If you have vision issues, you may have a tougher time watching the film. I don't, but there's one glaring scene showing a singular image reverberating quickly on screen — you'll know it when you see it — that it may be a bit too much to handle.
I've never been to a screening that's just HFR without 3D and without IMAX. Seeing it with all three can be a bit overwhelming. HFR by itself may be better; however, you're more likely to head to a theater playing the film in some combination of 3D and IMAX as well.
Since the whole thing feels like a giant cinematic experiment at the moment, I would personally hold off.
Then How Should I See It?
"The Battle of the Five Armies" hasn't been post-converted. It was filmed in 3D. So if you're heading out to see it in that format, you're getting your money's worth.
If you're not a fan of wearing silly 3D glasses or a controversial newer cinematic style, ditch both and just see this one in plain old 2D.
*Note: Though the official Hobbit site lists five ways in which to see the film, it appears there's at least one other way to see the film. When we checked the movie out earlier this month, it was shown in 3D IMAX with the high frame rate. This was at the AMC Lincoln Square inside the only real IMAX theater in NYC. Fandango will tell you the same thing during a simple search for the film.
Shortly after graduating college and bouncing around various jobs, Barbara Corcoran had an epiphany.
She compared the lifestyle of her hotshot boyfriend, who had his own real estate business, with the constant struggle of her father, who was a printing-press foreman. The direction to take was clear.
She cofounded the Corcoran Group real-estate firm in 1973 with her boyfriend, and after they went their separate ways, she continued to grow her reputation in the New York City real-estate scene. Corcoran sold her firm to NRT Incorporated in 2001 for $66 million and started to build her public persona on television and in print.
In 2009, she joined the cast of ABC's reality pitch show "Shark Tank," which soon became not only a hit series but her full-time job.
We spoke with Corcoran to discuss how her business philosophy had changed over the years and what it was like being a shark.
The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Business Insider:At what point did you realize you wanted to be an entrepreneur? Was that something you always had in you, or was it something that developed over time?
Barbara Corcoran: No, no, no. Not at all. I was an entrepreneur in two different businesses — I had a flower of the week club first, and then I had the real-estate brokerage firm — but no, I don't think I even saw myself as an entrepreneur.
It was a job, basically. When I started my flower-of-the-week club, I thought, "Wow, I could make money early in the morning by delivering flowers before I even have school." And then when I started the Corcoran Group, it was just 'cause my boyfriend at the time said, "Hey, you'd be good in real estate. Why don't you start a company?" And I go, "OK, why not?" I didn't aspire to it one bit.
My dad had a huge influence, though. Because he worked for someone his whole life and hated it. He was a printing-press foreman, and he would constantly get fired for insubordination. Then he would take weeks to find a new job. He was a guy who didn't like authority, period, from anybody. He'd tell his boss, "Go to hell, and your son goes to hell, too!" And get fired immediately!
He was a walking, talking example of insubordination, and I gotta believe that was an influence because nine of the 10 kids in my family are all in business for themselves. And that couldn't just be a coincidence.
Most people that start businesses for themselves, I find, generally, when they do it at a very young age, they have parents who are in business for themselves, and that's all they ever saw. So they assume they're going to have a business for themselves.
BI: Have you had mentors who have taught you how to build a business?
BC: I've had two great role models. I had my mom, who was never in business. But in my household — which had two bedrooms, 10 kids, and one bath — you would have recognized her as a phenomenal businesswoman. She was just super organized, definitely in charge, had everybody doing what she wanted, motivated everybody. She was just in charge. And so her house was her business.
And then the role model I had as an adult, even though [my mom] kept proving to be the best role model honestly for business, was Ramone Simone, my first boyfriend who gave me $1,000 [to start a business] because he was 10 years older than me. And he was building houses in New Jersey, that was his business, and he was a guy who was in business for himself. Everyone in my hometown, with the exception of my dad and maybe two other dads, worked for the aluminum company.
And so I never saw anyone who worked for themselves, really. But Ramone Simone did, and he had a big fancy car, and he had nice suits on, and he laughed, and it seemed like he had endless money. It was like, "Whoa, this is easy!" So when he said, "You'd be great in real estate. Why don't you start a real estate firm?" [I was like] "Yeah, OK!" I mean, if he had said, "Why don't you jump off a bridge?" at that impressionable part of my life, at 22, I would've leapt right off that bridge. So I was game for whatever he was gonna say.
BI: Was there a particular piece of advice that has stuck with you?
BC: Yeah. Again, I give Ramone Simone the credit for that. It was the early '80s, when he left me to marry my secretary — which was a big downturn in my life. When I ended the [real-estate] business and divvied it up into two teams, he picked the first one and I picked the second.
On the way out the door he said, "You'll never succeed without me."
He'd never said anything mean to me, but he was so angry we chopped up the business. And I wouldn't have chopped it up, honestly; I'd have stayed with him had he allowed me to fire the secretary, but he wouldn't. And he was the majority shareholder, with 51%. I said, "I was the one running this business, doing the billing. How did you get in charge?" And it was because he had 51%. It was rough.
But that was the "advice" that got me through the thick and thin, mostly because it slammed me in my gut, and I didn't want to let him have the satisfaction of seeing me go down. That's what I always leaned on when things were bad. I'd be like, "Damn, I'm not gonna let him see me [like this]." And he probably didn't care at that point. He had three kids with his new wife.
BI: What are some other insights or experiences that were critical to your approach to business?
BC: I saw a lot of examples of what not to do. I worked for a very short stint for two people in the real-estate business, the Giffuni brothers, who were two elderly men who owned lots of properties in New York, and I was their receptionist. They were both extremely warm and loving toward their staff, so I felt very much at home and I didn't want to ever leave them. I did, obviously, to start my own business. So they were very influential in a good way.
I needed to get a sales license, so I had to work for someone before I could open a firm. I worked for another guy who will remain nameless, but he was a bastard. Everybody hated him, but he owned the biggest rental company in New York that eventually went under. He took your spirit away.
It was my job to rent apartments in a specific building on 87th and 2nd, and I sat there all day and people would come in and I'd rent them an apartment. I rented five apartments in one week, and people couldn't believe I managed that because it was a hard-to-rent building by reputation. And he came in and he asked to see my sales sheet. And he looked down the sales sheet and I was aglow — I was like 21 years old and I was so happy — and he dropped the sheet on the table and he goes, "I say you're just a piss in the bucket." I was devastated. Like my world crumbled.
But you want to know something? In hindsight now, being an adult and looking back, that's probably how he motivated people, by insulting them. That also worked for me with Ramone Simone.
So I think you learn more by how not to do things. I never had a star model to mimic, other than my mother.
BI: You made a comment about never investing in rich kids. Were you caught up in the heat of the moment, or do you always look down on privilege?
BC: It's not that I look down on it. It's harder for a kid with privilege and successful parents, it's harder for them to succeed if they're going to be in business for themselves. I'm not talking about in corporate America or investment banking — all those connections play to your advantage, I think, along with education.
But what I do believe, and I truly do believe it, is that if you're a rich kid and come from a family of privilege, it's so much harder to succeed in your own business because you're missing the most valuable card, which is called "need." You don't need to succeed. And so all your landings have been softened for you your whole life.
The best way to think of a solution in business when you're slammed up against a wall is to try to think of five different solutions to get around it and keep going. But when you know that you have a trust fund, you know that you can always fall back on your parents, and you know that you can get additional funds, you get cheated out of thinking of those spur of the moment, very needy ideas that get you through.
So I do not invest in businesses owned by rich kids. I just don't do it because I can't get the taste of them. I can't take a bite out of the entrepreneur and feel a tremendous pressure, and so I can't identify with that. I like to work with people that I feel I can really align myself with, and I get them and they get me. There's a great magic that happens there that you can't fake.
BI: So the main thing you're looking for in an entrepreneur is that need for success?
BC: Yes. And I another thing I must say I'm biased against is a well-educated entrepreneur. I'm going to tell you something: Everything in the education system encourages left-brain thinking, and the better the school (not always) and the better the privilege, where the crowd you're hanging with is made of very affluent kids …
BI: Are you talking about MBAs?
BC: I'm talking about even undergraduates at really fancy undergraduate schools. I love the brainpower. You could see that the kid is so smart. But that generally doesn't bring with it street smarts. I really want those kind of smarts. The kind on the street. Those are the ones that win in business.
BI: What is it like often being the only woman among the "Shark Tank" investors for an episode, or at least just one of two? Does that affect the dynamic?
BC: Well, it's better having two women on the set, definitely. Because I was the only woman on the set for three years.
It's much better having another female in one way because we have a camaraderie and can gang up against the guys, which we don't often do, surprisingly. I don't know why we don't. I'm going to try to do that next season the best I can. It'd be good for the show!
What is interesting to me is that I'm very comfortable with men. I really am. I have no issue with it. I could usually manipulate a man much more easily than I could a woman, because they're more vulnerable to manipulation from a female. They're not expecting it.
I was in a man's world. Even though you think of brokerage as a female business, it's worked by women but owned by men. So everybody in my ballpark that I competed with, it was in a business owned by men and usually second or third generation. So I'm used to that. You can stick me with a bunch of men and I'm my best. If you stick me with women and I have to switch off from female topics to business, I'm not as fluid. I'm not used to it.
I also had four brothers, which helped, and I was older than all of them, so I pushed them around from the beginning. And so that was second nature to me, you know? [laughs]
The one downside from having another female on the set? I had a great advantage as a lone female shark, which was I got a lot of the consumer products that the men just didn't understand. They didn't shop for food; they didn't buy clothes for the girls. I'd say about 40% of what comes on "Shark Tank" is understood better by a female than a male. And so that was my little secret sauce, you know?
But now, of course, Lori [Greiner] has got a female and a very bright perspective, which is unlucky for me! I lost a little of my edge. [laughs]
BI: Of the investors, is there one you most prefer working with? In a recent interview, Mark Cuban said he most preferred working with you.
BC: It's mutual. You know why? Because he's buttoned-up, he does the due diligence fast, he closes the deals, he's smart — not to take anything away from the other sharks, who are smart in different ways — but he's particularly smart in more ways, I think.
I'm smart in certain ways, but I know all the stuff I'm not good at. He seems to be smart across the board. And so, my odds of winning with Mark are better. More importantly, I like efficiency. So if a deal's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Boom. Done. And he's cut from the same cloth. Whereas the other sharks, I think they take a lot more time and are more thoughtful, more cautious in their deal making.
BI: In this season, was there a moment that got particularly heated or emotional that you can take us behind the scenes of?
BC: There's this one coming up where two women ball their eyes out. I thought they were gonna take a stretcher and haul them off. And they cried so much, I thought for sure it wouldn't air, and it is airing.
I'm like, geez, how did they edit that one down? I hope they took their 30 minutes of tears and cut it down to like a 10-second clip! But I don't know how they're going to do that, because even in their pitch, they're weeping.
Ay, ay, ay! If they weren't going to be taken out of there, I was going to be taken out. And I bought them. Not because of the tears, but I had to listen between the tears to really get what the heck they were talking about.
So there you have it: weeping women. Not my favorite, but this will hold the record for the most weeping women in an episode. [laughs] I still can't believe I closed on that.
BI: Do you think you got wrapped up in emotion with that deal?
BC: Never. It's a great business and I'm very happy. They're solid entrepreneurs.
Usually when anybody starts crying, female or male (and I've seen more men cry on that set, by the way), I would have to say that turns me off totally. I get a little embarrassed for people.
How I got over that one, I don't know. I'm going to have to see the episode and tell you after the fact why I went forward! [laughs] It doesn't sound like my style at all.
Corcoran with Pipsnacks founders (and siblings) Jeff and Jen Martin:
on
BI: Do you have a favorite deal you've made on "Shark Tank"?
BC: Oh, definitely. Already I can tell you it's Pipsnacks. They're two kids out of Brooklyn, a sister and brother. They're terrific. They're both in their own right phenomenal entrepreneurs. And they're together! Do you know how exciting it is to get two for the price of one? Usually you have a winning entrepreneur and a sidekick who's a quanter [numbers person]. Or you get the quanter running the show and the sidekick has to be pushed up above them, and that's tricky business. I've had to do that. When you have two rock-solid entrepreneurs, each with talents that are also complementary to one another, that's the trifecta, three for two.
BI: What do you think was the best pitch on the show?
BC: The best pitch that always comes to mind is Cousins Maine Lobster. Those two guys, again, are two phenomenal entrepreneurs. They're like Pipsnacks.
I love getting two phenomenal entrepreneurs at once. They don't come up so often, but when I see them it's like I'm drooling, but I keep my mouth shut so I'm not dribbling all over myself.
But the best pitch to date, even through this season, was clearly Cousins Maine Lobster. Because they were clear, they were good-looking (you couldn't take your eyes off them), they were high energy, and they answered every question and objection like geniuses. Genuine, rock solid, and perfect answers.
I remember thinking to myself, "My God, these guys are amazing!" And you know why they answered everything so well? They were smart enough before they came on "Shark Tank" — I haven't seen it before and I haven't seen it since — they watched all four seasons of "Shark Tank" before they came on. They role-played. They worked on every objection any shark had ever asked an entrepreneur. Reams of paper. And they practiced the answers.
You want to know the one question that none of us thought to ask when they were on that set? It was "How long have you been in business?" All they said was, "Sales this month are the highest ever," and nobody asked, "Of how many months, or years?" And we always ask that. But they were so buttoned-up that none of us thought to ask that.
It wasn't until I did my due diligence that I found it was just three months. But that's how solid they were. I thought they were seasoned businessmen.
BI: What about the worst pitch?
BC: Oh, there are so many different ones, who do I pick? Very often the worst pitch is the most interesting, also, I have to tell you. Because you can't believe this person's doing this.
But then you have the wacky dentist whose toothpaste put you to sleep at night, the chubby lady who said her lipstick makes you lose weight … I mean, the claims we hear on there, they're laughable.
Or maybe this one rivals the Bluetooth engineer — a Rhodes scholar, his thing, and he had charts and film to prove it, he would turn seawater into pure gold. Would you believe that? He was at least friendly. He wasn't as scary as the Bluetooth guy. He smiled a little. But crazy things. They keep it interesting.
BI: What are you working on now? How do you balance it all?
BC: Well, my real-estate investments I stopped making probably seven years ago, believe it or not. I always bought properties, four- to six-unit buildings that were up and coming. And that's the investing that I had done over the years. And then in New York you start to look like a genius because they all accrued so much value.
But I haven't done that. I have no time. I thought ["Shark Tank"] was a side gig, but it's not. It's a full-time gig. Because it's not just the shooting schedule of the actual episodes, you then have the updates, and then we're flying around for the [coming spinoff].
How do I balance putting my eye and nose on what's important and dropping the rest with my entrepreneurs? I have such a simple system.
I close on the corral of business that I do for the season — this season I closed on five deals. I'm like a bunny rabbit with each entrepreneur for Skype calls, or in person if they're within shooting range. I help them with everything they do, I make to-do lists, I make sure the follow-through is there. I do that probably four months straight.
And then I decide who the winners are.
After I sign a deal, I have everybody send me a photo of themselves. I frame it and I put it on my wall. After that four-month period — it used to be six months, now it's four, and I think I'll make it shorter — the minute I realize they're not a great entrepreneur, I flip the frame over. I keep the frame on the wall, but this way every time I look up, it's my symbol: Don't spend any time on this. I put all my focus on my good ones.
Because each season you pick up more and more and more. You can only really put your efforts into your winning horses, your best bets.
BI: How many businesses are you invested in now?
BC: You know, I'd have to count the photos to be exact, but I'd say about 26 or so. But ask me how many are right side up on my wall. That's the key question. I'm actually looking at the wall. Let me see. Yeah, there are exactly nine. Nine are up right now, and I'm sure I'll flip a couple over in the next couple months and be back to seven. [laughs]
With so many new shows premiering in 2015, it's hard to remember when all of your favorites, like "House of Cards" and "The Walking Dead," are returning.
Below is a list of when the popular shows will be back from hiatus or will kick off their midseason premieres.
Tues., Jan. 6 "Pretty Little Liars," season 6 premiere, 8 pm., ABC Family "MasterChef Junior," season 3 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox "Cougar Town," season 6 premiere, 10 p.m., TBS "Switched at Birth," season 4 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC "Chicago Fire," midseason return, 10 p.m., NBC
Wed., Jan. 7 "American Idol," season 15 premiere, 8 p.m., Fox "American Horror Story," midseason return, 10 p.m., FX "The Mysteries of Laura," midseason return, 8 pm., NBC "Law & Order: SVU," midseason return, 9 p.m., NBC "Chicago PD," season 3 premiere, 10 p.m., NBC
Sir Paul McCartney had the perfect response after losing to his grandkids at "Beatles Rock Band," the video game that allows you to strum along to your favorite rock and roll hits.
On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the other night, McCartney expressed good-natured frustration with the game.
"Are you kidding," he told Fallon, "it's very hard!"
He said every time he plays against his grandkids, they kill him. But McCartney isn't phased.
"I just tell them," he quips, "I wrote [that song!]"
Swedish video game programmer Markus Persson, best known as the creator of Minecraft, is the proud new owner of an incredible home in Beverly Hills.
According to Curbed LA, Persson purchased the 23,000-square-foot mansion for a jaw-dropping $70 million. That price may seem steep, but it's a full $15 million less than the original $85 million asking price.
Beyonce and Jay Z had previously been interested in buying the home, and the couple had reportedly visited the property six times.
Persson's $70 million purchase was a record for Beverly Hills.
"Marcus fell in love with the house, its sleek contemporary design and its spectacular panoramic views that sweep from downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean," Katia De Los Reyes, who represented Persson, told Curbed. "The fact that the house also was completely furnished in such great style was another major selling point for him."
The on-the-record announcement comes after unnamed US officials told The New York Times and other news outlets on Wednesday that they suspected North Korea was behind the hacks in apparent retaliation for the movie "The Interview" that depicted the assassination of that country's dictator, Kim Jong-un.
But those allegations didn't actually explain how North Korea pulled it off, fueling speculation that it had nothing to do with the hacks.
Over the last few days, a lot of people, many of them in the tech community, have come out against the government's narrative and tried to poke holes in its case. The theory among those skeptics is that the GOP is a so-called hacktivist group like The Syrian Electronic Army, LulzSec, or Anonymous acting independently from North Korea or any other state.
Here's a quick, high-level breakdown of the supposed holes people are finding in the FBI's case.
First, Zetter points out that the hackers are acting more like hactivists than cyber warriors employed by a nation state:
Nation-state attacks aren’t generally as noisy, or announce themselves with an image of a blazing skeleton posted to infected computers, as occurred in the Sony hack. Nor do they use a catchy nom-de-hack like Guardians of Peace to identify themselves.
Zetter and other skeptics have also pointed to the FBI's lack of concrete evidence. The US intelligence community isn't telling us specifically how it was able to tie the attacks to North Korea and how the hackers were able to break into Sony, fueling speculation that the US government simply doesn't have that evidence.
Marc Rogers, a security blogger, wrote that he thinks the hackers deliberately used Korean to throw the investigators off the trail and link the attacks to North Korea. Rogers also says the hackers used broken Korean, which he thinks is all the evidence we need to prove the hackers weren't actually from North Korea.
But the most common source of the skepticism is that the hackers masked their location, so it's nearly impossible to trace it to North Korea as the FBI claims to have done.
Of course, there's a counter to all of those arguments. If the FBI does have the evidence it says it has linking North Korea to the Sony hacks, it can't share that information. In fact, in its statement Friday, the FBI said it can't share all the evidence it has against North Korea because of a "need to protect sensitive sources."
And we can go on and on trying to poke holes in everyone's theories.
At this point, it almost doesn't matter who was behind the attacks. The hackers or terrorists or whatever you want to call them won this round. And they won because Sony let them by caving to their demands and shelving "The Interview" for good.
Sony set a precedent that big corporations can cave to hackers' demands. It doesn't matter if those hackers are backed by a state or just a group of kids causing trouble. When the next hack happens, there's now a better chance that another company will cave just like Sony did. The power is in the hackers' hands.
President Obama said in a news conference Friday that Sony made a mistake pulling "The Interview" following a series of hacks from a group called Guardians of Peace.
A reporter asked Obama if Sony was right to pull the movie. Obama responded:
"I’m sympathetic to the concerns they faced. Having said all that, I think they made a mistake."
Obama continued:
"I wish [Sony] had spoken to me first. I would have told them do not get into a pattern where you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks."
He said other companies shouldn't cave to pressure from hackers, like Sony did, in order to avoid setting a precedent.
When Sony decided to pull the movie Wednesday night, pundits exploded. The fear is that caving to hackers sends a message that companies and people can be controlled simply by the threat of the hack.
Obama agrees with that.
The FBI on Friday said it has enough evidence to link the Sony hacks to North Korea. In short, the FBI says the methods and tools used to hack Sony have been linked to North Korea before. However, the FBI's statement wasn't too detailed because it needs to protects its "sensitive sources."
"They caused a lot of damage, and we will respond," Obama told reporters at the press conference.
Jaguar is taking their "Good to be Bad" marketing campaign to the next level. The English automaker's sinister C-X75 supercar concept with be the vehicle of choice for the villain in the upcoming James Bond flick "Spectre," Autocar reports.
The Jag C-X75 will face off against Bond's brand new Aston Martin DB10 that was commissioned specially for the 24th installment in the film series.
According to the automotive publication, sources "involved with the project" report that the supercar concept is undergoing modifications for the upcoming film. This includes the removal of the C-X75's 800 hybrid powertrain. In its place will be Jaguar's trusty 5.0 liter supercharged V8 engine, from the company's phenomenal F-Type sports car.
Jaguar officials have declined to confirm their involvement in "Spectre" with Autocar. The publication says that the automaker simply told them to await a formal announcement in 2015.
Should the C-X75 actually make its way into the next Bond flick, it will continue a long series of appearances for Jaguar in the film franchise. Most recently, the company's flagship XJ sedan served as for Dame Judy Dench's ride M in 2012's "Skyfall."
There is also a recent trend for Jaguars serving as transportation for Bond film baddies. In 2006's "Casino Royale," Mads Mikkelsen's card playing Le Chiffre transported a captured Bond in a Jaguar XJ8 sedan.
But the company's most famous Bond appearance in recent memory maybe the villainous bright green rocket and machine gun-equipped XJR convertible from 2002's "Die Another Day."
The carbon-fiber C-X75 hybrid supercar concept first debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show to rave reviews. The car even managed to take home Autoweek's "Best in Show" award.
"This will be the finest looking and most innovative Jaguar ever created,” said Jaguar head designer Ian Callum. "Even in the world of supercars, we can still produce the most beautiful."
"C-X75 is an exciting project for us and a clear statement of Jaguar’s intent to continue creating bold, innovative and beautiful performance cars."
It was hoped that the model make it into production. Sadly, however, Jaguar decided to cancel the project in 2013. Fortunately, many of the C-X75's design elements made it into the company's gorgeous F-Type coupe and convertible.
Earlier this month, the cast and car for "Spectre" was officially presented to the public in a special ceremony at Pinewood Studios, where the films are made. With principal photography just underway, the film is expected to make its way to theaters by November 6, 2015.
President Obama addressed the Sony hack Friday, telling reporters the studio "made a mistake" by canceling the Christmas Day premiere of "The Interview," which depicted the assassination of North Korea's dictator Kim Jong-un.
"I wish [Sony] had spoken to me first," he said. "I would have told them do not get into a pattern where you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks."
Sony CEO Michael Lynton responded to Obama's comments by saying that the studio "did not cave" and that "The president, the press, and the public are mistaken as to what actually happened."
Sony is continuing to fight back against the president's remarks, saying that it did, in fact, speak with the White House before pulling the film, which spurred North Korean hackers to expose the studio's sensitive internal documents to the world.
Sony had "many conversations both before and after the movie was pulled Wednesday," a source told The Hollywood Reporter.
Sony also just released another statement, explaining "the only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it."
The company expressed that it is "surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform" and "It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so."
Sony Pictures Entertainment is and always has been strongly committed to the First Amendment. For more than three weeks, despite brutal intrusions into our company and our employees’ personal lives, we maintained our focus on one goal: getting the film The Interview released. Free expression should never be suppressed by threats and extortion.
The decision not to move forward with the December 25 theatrical release of The Interview was made as a result of the majority of the nation’s theater owners choosing not to screen the film. This was their decision.
Let us be clear – the only decision that we have made with respect to release of the film was not to release it on Christmas Day in theaters, after the theater owners declined to show it. Without theaters, we could not release it in the theaters on Christmas Day. We had no choice.
After that decision, we immediately began actively surveying alternatives to enable us to release the movie on a different platform. It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so.
Today's statement has Sony singing a different tune than they were earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Sony Pictures told Deadline it has "no further" release plans for "The Interview."
Sony canceled the theatrical release of the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy "The Interview" on Wednesday after major theater chains pulled out of showing the film following scary threats from hackers.
But even if major theater chains refused to play the movie, there were still plenty of independent theaters, like George R.R. Martin's Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, that would have been happy to show the controversial flick.
Sony CEO Michael Lynton wasn't pleased when Obama stated Friday in a press conference that the studio "made a mistake" by pulling "The Interview" from theaters after threats from North Korean hackers.
Lynton responded by telling CNN's Fareed Zakaria that Sony "did not cave" and that "The president, the press, and the public are mistaken as to what actually happened."
The Sony exec explains the studio was forced to temporarily scrap the flick after major theater chains pulled out of showing the controversial film depicting the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Despite telling Deadline on Wednesday that Sony Pictures had "no further" release plans for "The Interview," Lynton told CNN Friday: "We have always had every desire to have the American public see this movie."
The problem, says Lynton, is that "There has not been one major VOD or one major ecommerce site that has said they are willing to step forward and distribute this movie."
But he will need help from distributors willing to release it. "Again, we don’t have that direct interface with the American public so we need to go through an intermediary to do that."
While Lynton is presumably referring to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, Sony also owns streaming platform Crackle.
"There are a number of options open to us and we have considered those, and are considering them," Lynton said. "It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so."
Watch Lynton's full conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria below:
Sony Pictures says it's having a tough time finding a video-on-demand service to stream "The Interview," the satire that spurred North Korean hackers to attack the movie studio.
“We have reached out (to Sony) on a number of fronts,” BitTorrent Chief Content Officer Matt Mason told Deadline. “It seems like no one else wants to touch this, but for us this about the two things we care about most: an open Internet and a sustainable future for creativity. This is bigger than this film at this point. As a company, we feel we have no choice but to help Sony Pictures and defend these principles.”
Sony canceled the movie theater premiere of "The Interview" following threats from North Korean hackers and a cyberattack that released troves of Sony Pictures' internal documents.
BitTorrent wants to use a service called BitTorrent Bundle to release the movie to viewers for a fee, according to Deadline.
"Games of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin is 
Unfortunately, creating a screenshot-proof, self-destructing email app brings with it additional challenges.
I don't know about you, but when I head out to see a film, I want to get lost in the movie without my attention being diverted by the nature of the filmmaking. While your eyes adjust during the first scenes of the movie you're focusing so much on all the small movements taking place on screen (it can be a bit overwhelming) that you may miss out on some of the fun of the huge opening scene.
BI: Have you had mentors who have taught you how to build a business?
BI: What is it like often being the only woman among the "Shark Tank" investors for an episode, or at least just one of two? Does that affect the dynamic?
BI: In this season, was there a moment that got particularly heated or emotional that you can take us behind the scenes of?
Sun., Jan. 11
Sony is continuing to fight back against the president's remarks, saying that it did, in fact, speak with the White House before pulling the film, which spurred North Korean hackers to expose the studio's sensitive internal documents to the world.
Lynton responded by telling CNN's 
