Freeline Media Orlando

Orlando's Premier Online Magazine

Business web sites racing to keep up with mobile apps technology.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — These days, Matt Weber said, most businesses have a web site. More than a few also use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach customers. But are they actually doing what they need to do in order to build up their clientele? Most likely not, he said, because the Internet [...]

“Forensic Files” director praises Orlando locations, and behind-the-scenes talent.

ORLANDO — Michael Jordon has a pretty good sense of what makes a docudrama successful for a cable network. After all, he’s directed more than 270 episodes of a show that’s drawn in audiences for more than a decade. ” ‘Forensic Files’ was the first show in its genre,” Jordan told Freeline Media, during a [...]

Orlando veteran’s park pays lasting tribute to fallen soldiers.

ORLANDO – It’s a quiet oasis in a major metropolitan area — and a very sobering spot as well. The natural beauty offered there is instantly inviting. There are moss trees all around, and along the lake are pedestrian sidewalks and bike paths. A bit further from the lake is a gazebo to relax in. [...]

Freelining with Mike Freeman: Remembering Roland Topor.

Editor’s Note: Roland Topor died on April 16, 1997. As we move toward that date, Freeline Media editor Michael Freeman takes a look back at this author, actor, cartoonist and satirist, and his remarkable but little-known body of work. In a 1992 interview with the magazine Les Inrockuptibles, the late French writer and cartoonist Roland [...]

March 13th, 2013

Thoughts on pet stains and more: advice from the cleaning pros.

Stephen R. Craig operates Pro Resort Housekeeping and helps the vacation home industry maintain its resorts in perfect condition.

KISSIMMEE – Stephen R. Craig spends quite a bit of time talking to people about pet stains. He also knows a thing or two about toilet paper – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And he’s noticed an odd tendency that some people have, when they’re expecting guests to arrive, to put toilet paper on the roll – still wrapped up in paper. It makes no sense, Craig said, because your visitors don’t want to have to unwrap their toilet paper.
“I’ve never understood why people put wrapped toilet paper on a roll,” he said.
Craig talks about subjects like pet stains and toilet paper for good reason: he’s the president of Pro Resort Housekeeping, which provides house cleaning services to Central Florida’s thriving hospitality industry, including vacation homes.
And understanding what the absolute best products are for maintaining a vacation home, Craig said, can be a key aspect to keeping guests feeling happy and clean – and coming back.
“Nice little touches like this make a difference,” Craig said. “And the guests appreciate this.” Read more »

February 28th, 2013

Review: Dead Sara live.

Dead Sara, a hard rock band from Los Angeles, performed at the Amway Center on Monday as the opening act for Muse.

ORLANDO — It was pouring on Monday night.
Standing safely inside the Amway Center, glancing out the panoramic windows on the terrace level, I watched downtown Orlando get positively soaked from the kind of torrential downpour more typical of the rainy season in June than of February. The skies seemed dark and ominous, almost threatening, as if something far worse than a mere rainstorm was on the way.
Storms like that can set a mood — dark, edgy, and moody.
I had no idea, until I got inside the arena, how perfectly Dead Sara’s performance would match that feeling. Read more »

February 25th, 2013

Review: ”Wicked.”

The Broadway musical “Wicked” is now being performed at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando.

ORLANDO – It says something about our continued national fascination with the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” that not only have generations been raised on the adventures of Dorothy in the land of Oz, but that L. Frank Baum’s classic story continues to inspire artists today.
Director Sam Raimi’s new movie “Oz the Great and Powerful,” about a circus magician swept up from Kansas to Oz, opens on March 8. And locally, the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre is hosting a lively version of the hit Broadway musical “Wicked,” which, judging by the audience reaction, appears to have as much legs as the movie.
So what is it about Baum’s tale of Oz that keeps fascinating not only generation after generation of movie and theater fans, but also directors and writers? Why do we insist on going back to Oz so often?
In the case of “Wicked,” I suspect it’s more than just the first-rate songs by Stephen Schwartz, or the fact that the entire production evokes an enjoyable degree of nostalgia in all of us for the movie we were raised on – even if this one is pretty much minus Dorothy and Toto. Read more »

February 18th, 2013

Vacation home industry teaches “Property Management for Dummies.”

The vacation home industry has started teaching its members “Property Management for Dummies.” (Photo by Michael Freeman).

CELEBRATION – Since the housing market crashed in 2008 and Florida found itself in the unenviable position of leading most other states when it comes to home foreclosures, it’s been a common practice for banks to impose liens against customers who have fallen well behind on their mortgage payments.
But it isn’t just banks that have to deal with homeowners who have stopped making payments. This is also a challenge for the tourism and hospitality industry.
Dealing with the delinquent owners of homes that are rented out on a short-term basis to tourists has become such a common problem that the trade association representing managers of vacation homes recently hosted a workshop called “Property Management for Dummies,” to assist those members coping with an owner who hasn’t kept up with their payments. Read more »

February 18th, 2013

Review: ”Hollywood En Pointe.”

The Orlando Ballet performed “Hollywood En Pointe” last weekend at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. (Photo by Michael Freeman).

ORLANDO – Decades after Hollywood established the practice of taking hit Broadway musicals and turning them into Academy Award-winning movies, the opposite trend has proven to be equally durable, most notably through the efforts of Disney.
The theme park giant, which launched the first feature-length animated movie in 1937 with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” also decided to conquer Broadway by adapting its big screen hits like “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins” to the stage. As the recent run of “Mary Poppins” here in Orlando at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre beautifully demonstrated, Disney’s creative stage directors aptly proved that it can be a surprisingly smooth transition if you know how to recreate some movie magic on stage.
But it isn’t just Disney that’s been looking to the large screen for theatrical inspiration these days. “Hollywood En Pointe” aimed to tap into our nostalgic fondness for classic movies, and it came to the Bob Carr this past weekend courtesy of a unique presenter: the Orlando Ballet. Read more »