John Sanborn is a video artist and Director whose company, La Fong, has been developing innovative programming for television, cable and web distribution. His latest project, Frank Leaves for the Orient, is on Comedy Central.

IS CINEMA DEAD?

John Sanborn: "Because people like to be told a story, and because cinema is SO sophisticated - there will never be an end to cinema. I've predicted it. I've gotten up on the soapbox,... but no new media ever totally replaces the previous one. It adapts it, modifies it, or may make it more accessible, but it doesn' replace it."

"Our rock and roll murder mystery, PAUL IS DEAD, was an episodic, on-line fiction, told on the internet with daily releases and a high level of interactivity, and it used the culture of the internet to tell its story. It uses traditional aspectsof storytelling - there's a main character, and the main story takes place in a partcular frame. We have backstories, and you can play songs, and visit web sites of the characters, you may get e-mail from oneof the characters - in short, you can absorb more of this world, this story world."

" Ultimately, I think, the internet is a fun way to be someone other than yourself!"