Regular readers of this column know I’m rarely at a loss for words here. But the available time in a 24-hour-day to think analytically, reflect widely and deeply, and create content – given everything else we do now – is evaporating. I want to more efficiently read, tweet, create, edit, reflect and share, so I’m taking a page from the social networks. Here’s what they’ve taught me so far:

  • Be brief, organized, include lots of images and links, and remember that everything, regardless of length, benefits from a narrative arch with a beginning, middle and end. (Creating magazines and interactive content, analyzing film and literature, and writing fiction and poetry actually taught me this long ago – but that’s another story.)

  • Remain hyper-aware, live in the moment, act fast and start composing in your head before your fingers hit the keyboard.

What have I been doing lately?

  • Speaking about the promise of 3D for content creators, studios and theater owners in LA last week at the inaugural Film Finance Forum and doing a live Q+A with Michael Lewis, CEO of RealD (above left). Several forum sessions will be available shortly in the StudioDaily Store (www.studiodaily.com/store).

  • Helping build out StudioNet (http://studionet.studiodailycom), StudioDaily’s new dedicated social network. Kudos to Bryant Frazer and Christine Hardtman for making it happen.

  • Sharing the love (of extended workflows) in The Plug-In Post.

What am I doing right now (beside finishing this issue and planning the next ones)?

  • Digging our new stock footage and music library e-newsletters, Studio/clips and Studio/tracks, edited by Jessica Clegg.

  • Looking forward to the launch of Dailyfilm (above right), the latest StudioDaily channel. It’s still in beta, but on April 1, be the first to post your short film or animation when it goes live (www.dailyfilm.tv). The site evolved from StudioDaily editor Matt Armstrong’s long-time wish, back before online film festivals existed, to create a festival and viral portal where you could share your short-form work and rate, rank, rave or rant about the competition.

Would you look at that. I’ve filled an entire page. The e-mails, alerts, invitations, posts, voicemails, blogs, articles, RSS news feeds and tweets await. Hold on – someone just forwarded me a video that I have to watch first.

– Beth Marchant, Editor-in-Chief

bmarchant@accessintel.com