Suddenly, voting members learned, they “will no longer be paid salaries as does away with a controversial element of how its voting body is organized.” The voting members are being offered a severance package. - The Hollywood Reporter
“In a collective act of civil disobedience and inspired by the 2022 women-led uprising in Iran and many women’s continued defiance of restrictive social laws, Iranian filmmakers say they have decided to finally make art that imitates real life in their country.” - The New York Times
This year’s 10 feel, largely, like a lawless batch of movies made by filmmakers who, I imagine, might be surprised to find themselves in the thick of what everybody casually calls awards season now, artists who’ve likely had many a studio door closed on their ideas. - The New York Times
Few non-English-Language films had ever been nominated for the top Oscar, and almost nobody had seriously expected one to win. Here’s an oral history of how the team behind the offbeat South Korean film realized it had a chance, and how they went on to lead it to victory. - The Hollywood Reporter
The nonprofit Art House Convergence, a group of cinephiles in Highland Park, Illinois, released a report last summer that revealed attendance at local independent theaters is nearly back to 2019 numbers. Their audiences are now younger, more diverse, and hungry for independent rather than big studio content. - Christian Science Monitor
Following a 12% staff reduction last September, the umbrella for NPR news/talk WNYC, classical WQXR, and New Jersey Public Radio is now laying off 7% of its employees, including Chief Content Officers for both WNYC and WQXR. The popular new-music show New Sounds will be cancelled after 43 years. - Radio Ink
The Federal Communications Commission is looking into whether iHeartMedia is compelling artists perform at its upcoming country music festival for free or reduced pay in exchange for more favorable airplay. - The Hollywood Reporter
Bezos wrote in his note, “We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others. - Deadline
“The popularity of Clueless triggered a rash of insouciantly smart high-school-meets-classic literature movies (including 10 Things I Hate About You, Cruel Intentions, and Easy A, to name but a few). Just as importantly, it started a trend for films and TV shows that focused on friendships between teenage girls.” - BBC
“Television Workshop, one of the country’s most successful acting programmes, can be found in a small, unassuming room down a street of former industrial buildings in Nottingham. … Auditions are rigorous and places are allocated based purely on talent.” And the school is now facing a financial crisis. - The Guardian
If the old Academy had a terror of making odd choices, the new Academy seems to be looking for ways to be odd. Its membership seems to have become in love with the unexpected gesture of heralding the unheralded because they value the symbolism, not because the work is worthy. - San Francisco Chronicle
Are we past the point where social media almost entirely drives arts marketing? While it’s unlikely social media platforms will all collapse in 2025, their ubiquity will almost certainly dissolve significantly in the years to come. - ArtsHub
Lester Holt (NBC Nightly News), Chuck Todd (Meet the Press), Hoda Kotb (The Today Show), Norah O’Donnell (CBS Evening News), Joy Reid and Alex Wagner (MSNBC) — all recently departed. And their successors won’t yet have established credibility with viewers at a time when faith in TV news is ebbing. - Variety
