Geoffrey Kleinman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 21, 1970 Moraga, California, U.S. |
| Education | Ithaca College (BS) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, web designer |
| Website | kleinman |
Geoffrey Kleinman (born November 21, 1970) is an American writer. He is the founder of Kleinman.com the company which started and ultimately sold DVD Talk and which runs DrinkSpirits.com.
After graduating with a B.S. in cinema photography from Ithaca College in 1992, Kleinman moved to Los Angeles to work a film editor. Following short stints at CAA, and as an assistant editor on the film The Last Shot [1] he moved to Portland Oregon to work in Internet technology.
In Portland he worked at Vulcan's Forge Multimedia (one of the first web design companies in Portland, Oregon); [2] [3] from there he moved to One World Internetworking, [4] an early Internet service provider focused on business hosting.
In 1995, while working at One World Internetworking, he started his first online venture, which was initially called The Bi-Weekly Business Internet Report. [5] but after a few issues became The Kleinman Report, [6] [7] which helped evangelize business use of the internet. [8] In 1995 Kleinman covered Internet World, [9] where a young David Filo and Jerry Yang (still students at Stanford) were publicly showing off, for the first time, their search engine Yahoo!
In 1996 he was recruited by Intel as an Internet marketing project manager where he worked on the Intel Internet Connection Wizard for Proshare technology which was ultimately integrated into the release of Windows 98. After a corporate reorganization he was tasked with development for the "Intel Owner's Club", [10] an online community aimed at building affinity with Intel with owners of Intel products. That project was the predecessor for The Intel Web Outfitters Service IWOS, [11] a multimillion-dollar venture.
On January 20, 1995, Kleinman launched DVD Talk, which began as a small DVD news site and forum. Over the course of 8+1⁄2 years, the site grew from a 'one man band' to a full-fledged online magazine with a staff of 60 writers. [12] In early 2004 Kleinman posted an audio interview Blu-Ray and High-Definition – A DVD Talk Audio Interview which would become the foundation for one of the first podcast. In January 2005 the podcast would officially launch as DVD Talk Radio with the premiere episode, an Interview with Henry Rollins. [13]
Another key milestone at DVD Talk was a battle with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, in September 2000, over the DVD Release of Princess Mononoke , whose US DVD release was initially announced without the original Japanese soundtrack and subtitles. [14] After collecting thousands of electronic signatures, DVD Talk Editor, Kleinman presented them in person at the 2000 Video Software Dealer's Association Meeting to the VP of Home Entertainment at Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. The result was the studio reversing their decision and adding the Japanese language and subtitles to the DVD US DVD release. [15] In September 2007 DVD Talk was sold to Internet Brands. [16]
During his time at DVD Talk, Kleinman contributed to various independent film projects, [17] including serving as a post-production and distribution adviser on The Puffy Chair (2005), [18] [19] Film Geek (2006) [20] [21] and 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006).
Kleinman was active in both covering film festivals, [22] as well as speaking at them, most recently participating in "So You Made a Film, Now What?" at Oregon's BendFilm Festival (2007). [23] He is also regularly asked to serve on selection committees and juries for film exhibitions and festivals such as Pine Film and BendFilm. [24]
Kleinman was often called on to be a professional source for the home entertainment industry and has been cited as an expert opinion, [25] [26] especially in regards to the HD format war. [27] [28] [29]
In 2010 Kleinman launched DrinkSpirits.com, [30] an online magazine dedicated to discussing and reviewing distilled spirits.
In 2011 Kleinman was selected as a judge for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition [31] and was cited as a "renowned journalist". [32] He returned in 2012 to judge and again judged the competition in 2013.
In 2012 Kleinman was awarded the honor of Kentucky Colonel from Steve Beshear, the governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. [33]
In 2013 Kleinman received official accreditation from the Beverage Alcohol Resource Group as "Bar Certified", [34] one of the highest certifications for a spirits professional. He was also nominated under the category of Best Cocktail Writing – Author for the Tales of The Cocktail Spirited Awards . [35]
In 2015 Kleinman was selected as a judge for the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. [36] and penned the piece Behind the Scenes of the Ultimate Spirits Challenge . He was also awarded Gold Certification from the BNIC (Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac) as a Certified Cognac Educator. [37]
Kleinman currently resides in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with his wife Heather and three children – Hannah, Aaron and Ivy.
He has contributed to several books: Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting (Solutions) by Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass, Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy by Nick Usborne, and Poor Richard's Email Publishing (with Chris Pirillo). He was thanked in DF Walker's novel Darius Logan: Super Justice Force.
In 2007, Kleinman's one-act play Love Connect [38] was produced as part of a one-act play showcase by Toy Boat Productions in Portland. [39]
From late 2007 to early 2008 Kleinman appeared weekly on KNRK with a segment called "Alternative Movie Picks," showcasing indie films in theaters and on DVD. In early 2008 he covered the Sundance Film Festival for the nationally syndicated Air America.
From March 2012 to August 2012, Kleinman appeared on KPAM and the Terry Boyd Show with a weekly radio segment called "The Drink Spirits Happy Hour". [40]
In 1995, Kleinman launched DVD Talk, which was then sold in 2007.
In 2009 Kleinman launched On Portland; [41] covering arts, entertainment, food, drink and living in Portland, Oregon
In 2010 Kleinman launched Drink Spirits.com a guide to distilled spirits, whiskey, bourbon, micro distilleries and cocktails.
In 2011, Kleinman began freelance writing for Tasting Panel Magazine, and debuted with the piece "Pisco, Take Too" in the June 2011 Issue. [42] In 2012 he was named a contributing editor to the magazine. He left the magazine in early 2013.
In 2012 Kleinman contributed to Playboy in the July/August Double Issue with the story "Best Bars in America 2012" [43] and "Rum Diaries". [44]
In 2014 Kleinman joined Whisky Advocate Magazine as a contributing editor. [45]
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, shrubs, and bitters. Cocktails vary widely across regions of the world, and many websites publish both original recipes and their own interpretations of older and more famous cocktails.
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, and Hisaya Morishige.
A white Russian is a cocktail made with vodka, coffee liqueur and cream served with ice in an old fashioned glass.
Jägermeister is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. Developed in 1934 by Wilhelm and Curt Mast, it has an alcohol by volume of 35%. The recipe has not changed since its creation and continues to be served in its signature green glass bottle. It is the flagship product of Mast-Jägermeister SE headquartered in Wolfenbüttel, Germany.
Brennivín is considered to be Iceland's signature distilled beverage. It is distilled from fermented grain mash and then combined with Iceland's very soft, high-pH water, and flavored only with caraway. A clear, savory, herbal spirit, the taste is often described as having notes of fresh rye bread. It is considered to be a type of aquavit and bottled at 40% ABV. The steeping of herbs in alcohol to create schnapps is a long-held folk tradition in Nordic countries, and Brennivín is still the traditional drink for the mid-winter feast of Þorrablót. Today, Icelanders typically drink it chilled, as a shot, with a beer, or as a base for cocktails. It often takes the place of gin in classic cocktails, or of a lighter rum in tropical drinks.
Whiskey and Coke is a highball cocktail made by mixing whiskey, typically bourbon or Tennessee whiskey, with Coca-Cola or other colas. A popular version of the drink is Jack and Coke, where the Jack Daniel's brand of whiskey is used. The drink is especially popular in the American South. The drink is generally served with ice – sometimes in an old-fashioned glass or a Collins glass, and sometimes in less-expensive containers such as disposable plastic cups. When bourbon is used, it is often called bourbon and Coke, or more generically, bourbon and cola. The "Coke" part of the name may tend to imply that the Coca-Cola brand of cola is used, but it is common for any brand of cola to be referred to as "Coke", at least in the American South.
Ready to drink packaged beverages are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include iced tea and alcopops.
Dale DeGroff, also known as "the King of Cocktails" or "King Cocktail", is an American bartender and author. The New York Times in 2015 called DeGroff "one of the world's foremost cocktail experts", and wrote that his book The Craft of the Cocktail is considered an essential bartending reference. From 1987 to 1999 DeGroff rose to prominence as the original chief bartender in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center in New York City, where his then-unusual emphasis on classic cocktail recipes and high-quality ingredients led to substantial acclaim and emulation by many other bars in New York City and beyond, and helped influence the creation of the craft cocktail movement.
A drinking establishment is a business whose primary function is the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Some establishments may also serve food, or have entertainment, but their main purpose is to serve alcoholic beverages. There are different types of drinking establishment ranging from seedy bars or nightclubs, sometimes termed "dive bars", to 5,000 seat beer halls and elegant places of entertainment for the elite. A public house, informally known as a "pub", is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises in countries and regions of British influence. Although the terms are increasingly used to refer to the same thing, there is a difference between pubs, bars, inns, taverns and lounges where alcohol is served commercially. A tavern or pot-house is, loosely, a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and, more than likely, also be served food, though not licensed to put up guests. The word derives from the Latin taberna and the Greek ταβέρνα/taverna.
A BLT cocktail is a cocktail made out of the contents of a BLT sandwich,, blended together with vodka. Variants on the drink include utilizing bacon vodka instead of traditional vodka, substituting liquor for lettuce, incorporating bacon salt, or including cucumber flavored vodka.
Platinka is a brand of vodka manufactured in Brest, Belarus and owned by Atlanta, Georgia-based World Elite Spirits, LLC.
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
Aviation American Gin, also known as Aviation Gin, is a brand of gin first produced in Portland, Oregon, by founders Christian Krogstad and Ryan Magarian in 2006. It is owned by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo.
Warren Bobrow is a mixologist, chef, and writer known as the Cocktail Whisperer. Bobrow is a freelance mixologist specializing in Craft Spirits. He has developed bar programs and implemented their cocktail and ice programs. Warren served as master mixologist for several brands of liquor, including the Busted Barrel rum produced by New Jersey's first licensed distillery since Prohibition.
Toussaint Coffee Liqueur is a coffee-flavoured liqueur prepared with a rum base that originated in Haiti, commemorating the revolutionary hero Toussaint Louverture. Its alcohol by volume content is 30%.
Desi Daaru, also known as Country Liquor or Indian-made Indian liquor (IMIL), is a category of liquor made in the countryside of the Indian subcontinent. They are traditionally prepared by a procedure that has been passed down for centuries. Due to cheap prices, country liquor is the most popular alcoholic beverage among the impoverished people. It is fermented and distilled from molasses, a by product of sugarcane. Desi liquor is a broad term and it can include both legally and illegally made local alcohol. The term desi daru usually refers to legal alcohol while other types of country liquor may be categorised as moonshine alcohol.
Grüner was an "Alpine" restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Yangdup Lama is bartender, bar-owner, entrepreneur, author and mixologist based in India and is known to be one of India's finest mixologists.
Eryn Reece is an American bartender. She is the bar director for Banzabar and Freemans Restaurant, both in New York City. In 2013, Reece was named Speed Rack National Champion. In 2014, The Daily Meal named her one of the top 25 bartenders in the United States. Reece has been profiled in, and her work featured in, PUNCH, The Daily Beast, Maxim, WPIX, The Spirits Business, Thrillist, and other media outlets.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)