"When this deal closes, we will own a theatrical distribution engine that is phenomenal and produces billions of dollars of theatrical revenue that we don’t want to put at risk. We will run that business largely like it is today, with 45-day windows." - The New York Times
“The Oscar field has included one international director for seven straight years, making it likely that dissident filmmaker Panahi, a vocal critic of Iran’s authoritarian regime, earns a nomination for his blistering movie about resistance.” - Los Angeles Times
Three companies “produced between seven and 10 telenovelas a year between them, a volume that would leave Miami the primary center of production of Spanish-language productions in the United States. No other place in the country had anything like it.” What happened? - El País English
“The smaller cousin of the famed Vegas attraction would offer the same features as the original and be the first in a ‘global network’ of mini-Spheres, which the company wants to also call Sphere.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)
“If you can’t tolerate autonomy, love it and set it free, if you can’t relish it for its very ugliness, its deathiness, then you are missing some qualities of authenticity and of wisdom.” - The Guardian (UK)
“Linde will begin his tenure on Feb. 17, after Sundance’s final film festival in Park City and before it heads to its new home in Boulder, Colorado.” - The Hollywood Reporter
South Carolina ETV/South Carolina Public Radio lost $3.2 million — 10% of total revenue — in annual funding when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s grants were rescinded. A network spokesman says “We anticipated this shift and factored it into our planning and budget discussions” and no programming is affected. - Inside Radio
On the heels of a record-breaking sale in November—which (briefly) set a new auction record for Bob Ross—American Public Television (APT) is sending another group of artworks by the late painter to the block. - Artnet
“A bipartisan spending bill … would allocate $643 million for broadcasting from the U.S. Agency for Global Media. … Trump signed an executive order in March calling for the dismantlement of the agency, which oversees Voice of America and funds nonprofit groups including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
By presenting an alternative to Meta and Twitter TikTok challenged the idea, pervasive in the early 2020s, that social media’s destiny was terminal decline, what the extremely online would call a “vibe sink.” - The Nation
While Paramount is hoping to find a weakness in the Netflix offer, experts say the lawsuit has a low chance of success and would only add further complications and delays to what is expected to be a protracted approval process. - The Wrap (MSN)
That depends on the category. For Best Picture, on which the entire Academy membership votes for nominees, you’ll need 922 first-place nods this year. But each of the Academy’s specialist branches chooses nominees for its specialty, and some branches are small. For Best Editing, you’ll need 68 votes; for Best Casting, only 30. - TheWrap
Search traffic to news sites has already plunged by a third in a single year globally, with the rise of AI overviews and chatbots, as well as changes to the search algorithms that have been the lifeblood of some media companies since the rise of the internet. - The Guardian
“PBS News Weekend signed off Sunday, ‘at least for the foreseeable future,’ anchor John Yang said. ... Starting Saturday, PBS will air the weekly show Horizons on science and technology issues. The new show Compass Points will focus on foreign affairs Sunday.” - AP
Here’s the thinking: A lack of cost savings could dissuade employers from using AI-generated performers instead of real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis. “In my opinion, if synthetics cost the same as a human, they’re going to choose a human every time." - The Hollywood Reporter
