“Men on screen have a whole life, and women only have a shelf life,” says Nicky Clark, the founder of campaign group Acting Your Age, which lobbies for age-appropriate casting and representation for older women on screen. - The Guardian
The trend is weirdly strong: "If you read the tea leaves put forth by the nominations for the DGA and SAG, there’s a strong possibility that all three of those categories may not include a first-time nominee." - Variety
But whew, the discourse. For instance, Emma Thompson isn't "brave" for acting in sex scenes; she’s "an actress who’s still at the top of her game, performing brilliantly and telling a story that isn’t often told. So there are small steps." - The Guardian (UK)
The Oscars maintain a "strange aura ... as a gold standard of cinematic achievement: For several months a year, people fret and discuss and strategise about them, while companies expensively campaign for them, only to spend the rest of the year complaining that they don’t mean anything." - The Observer (UK)
The Cherokee Nation, for instance, is offering cash rebates. "The ability to take control of that storytelling directly is important, so we want opportunities for our own creative artists to tell their story," says the Cherokee Nation's Principal Chief. - Los Angeles Times
The Online Streaming Act, introduced Wednesday, would force web firms to offer a set amount of Canadian content and invest heavily in Canada’s cultural industries, including film, television and music. - Toronto Star
The studios have 71 features scheduled for theatrical release in 2022 — considerably more than in pandemic-plagued 2021 and 2020, but down from the 81 released in each of the two years before that. The decrease appears connected to the rise of streaming, which is why it may last. - Variety
"If the protest succeeds in getting him booted, he can go back to making his podcast available on other platforms or launch his own. A 'win' would merely allow politically progressive artists to end their tacit association with a personality whose brand is the puncturing of liberal pieties." - The Atlantic
Vice Media, Audible, iHeartMedia, and the children's podcast producer Tinkercast are all working to expand offerings in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, French, and other languages — both by translating popular English-language properties and by creating original programming. - Digiday
Greta Gerwig is directing a Barbie movie with Margot Robbie (Ryan Gosling plays Ken). Lena Dunham has a Polly Pocket film coming. Tom Hanks will star as Major Matt Mason. There will even be movies based on Hot Wheels toy cars and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. - The Guardian
"Univision and the Mexican TV giant Televisa completed their $4.8 billion merger on Monday, (combining) Televisa's media content and production assets with Univision's assets, which will include dozens of cable channels, multiple broadcast networks, and a vast array of Spanish-language content." - The Hollywood Reporter
With movies facing what feels to many like an existential crisis and the box office for adult-oriented films all but decimated, few in the business are in a celebratory mood. - Los Angeles Times
All streaming services see a portion of U.S. customers unsubscribe every month and have been signing up more users than they lose over time. But viewers who join a service right after a big release tend to leave significantly faster than the average streaming customer, according to an analysis of Antenna data. - Wall Street Journal
