"The director and producer of a banned Malaysian film that explores the afterlife were charged Wednesday with offending the religious feelings of others in a rare criminal prosecution of filmmakers, slammed by critics as an attack on freedom of expression." - AP
David Chase, who wrote the HBO series about the New Jersey mafia that many credit with starting a golden age of television, said that era was now over. The 78-year-old said he was being told to “dumb down” his productions, and had been warned against making television that “requires an audience to focus”. - The Guardian
"Succession secured its legacy with its third best drama series award, The Bear feasted as the night’s top comedy, and the two shows about squabbling families dominated the acting awards at Monday night’s Emmys." - AP
The two- or three-word tags, meant to convey the gestalt of a show or movie, regularly help viewers choose a show from the service’s nearly endless library, the company says. The words are selected by about 30 employees — so-called taggers. - The New York Times
Chelsea Handler "went rogue" during the Critics Choice Awards, after Barbie won a bunch of awards during commercial breaks - including Best Comedy. Handler said, "Greta and Margot deserve the opportunity to make an acceptance speech," and invited Gerwig and Robbie onstage. - Variety
Cheating isn't a great look in sports - or sports media. "Since at least 2010, ESPN employees attached fake names to awards entries, the network said in a statement, and the scheme may have stretched back to 1997." - Los Angeles Times
The latest film & TV awards are the Critics Choice Awards, for which Barbie had 18 nominations. Oscars nominee voting ends Jan. 16, so these awards may have an outsize effect. At the time of posting, The Holdovers had already picked up two wins. - The Hollywood Reporter
While voting is still happening, "Many an Oscar has been won or lost on the basis of a good or bad performance on a podium a few weeks before." - The Guardian (UK)
If last year’s combined 191-day writers’ and actors’ strikes, with all the vitriolic exchange between creatives and management, has not convinced you that television’s riotous superbloom has officially come to an end, the 75th Emmys might. - Los Angeles Times
"Film producer David Ellison's Skydance Media is exploring an all-cash deal to acquire National Amusements Inc., the company that controls Paramount Global, (and) merge the two entertainment businesses." The deal would include, among others, Paramount Studios and the TV networks CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and VH1. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
If signed into law, the proposal, called the No AI Fraud Act, could curb a growing trend of individuals and businesses creating AI-recorded tracks using artists’ voices and deceptive ads in which it appears a performer is endorsing a product. - The Hollywood Reporter
