Both Europe’s most right-wing nation and its second hottest destination for international shoots, Hungary has shocked the world with its recent ban on LGBTQ+ public events. But Hollywood is not yet ready to give up on the country’s generous tax incentives. - Variety
The rough economic times caused by the 2008 financial crisis and 2020 COVID shutdown were hard on the industry, but back then, at least, market penetration and consumer loyalty were solid. But now Hollywood is reeling from major changes in its business, and that’s before any economic instability. - The Hollywood Reporter
Conservative dominance of Hollywood may prove to be a much rosier future than the one we’re actually going to get: a future where pop culture is little more than a careless swirl of stock images, slapped together with no rationale beyond ginning up engagement—the wholesale replacement of storytelling with slop. - The New Republic
These virtual spaces do more than serve as mere backdrops for gameplay. The design of buildings, streets and entire cities guides player emotions, behaviours and even advances the narrative. - The Conversation
“Recent reports of celebrity pushback against the profession, intimacy coordinators say, have created skewed narratives that breed misconceptions about their role and impact on sets. The most prominent criticism frames intimacy coordinators as a disruption to the artistic process.” - Vulture (MSN)
The plan is to request that Congress rescind $1.1 billion in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. If Congress agrees, that will amount to about two years of the organization’s funding, nearly all of which goes to public broadcasters including NPR, PBS and their local member stations. - The New York Times
“It’s so long since we’ve seen the original version of Star Wars, our collective memories of it as a gritty, charming space western may be nothing more than a mass hallucination.” - The Guardian (UK)
The writer was really sick of being frustrated and isolated in the hearing world, basically - and he also "wanted to put his own twist on films like Get Carter and The Outfit (which feature 'intimidating men in cool clothes' on a mission of vengeance).” - BBC
“What does that say about freedom of expression in Australia, that an Oscar-winning film made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective, which is being screened in Israel, is censored in such a blatant way?” - The Guardian (UK)
“For Hollywood’s stunt community, the announcement marks a historic milestone in a decades-long push for recognition.” The stunt award will debut in 2028. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
That’s it! Is that so hard? “The industry today needs to start thinking as one, to unite and slay the beast that is the streaming world. Because streaming is kicking ass in a way that it doesn’t need to.” - Variety
TikTok already existed in a kind of limbo before last week, but now its strange state of in-betweenness is intensified: it is both alive and dead, allowed to persist but technically illegal. Trump, who may have benefitted from its audience’s attention during the 2024 election, cannot let it be banned. - The New Yorker
Leading the pack is Amazon’s The Chosen, the multi-season series recounting the life of Jesus that has become an international smash and made lead actor Jonathan Roumie a superstar. Yet there’s an entire sub-industry making adaptations of Bible stories from both Old and New Testaments, and its products are extraordinarily popular. - The Guardian
