"The decades-long interdependence of PBS decision-makers, philanthropists, and corporate funders with one white, male filmmaker highlights the racial and cultural inequities perpetuated by this system. The amount of broadcast hours, financial support (from viewers like who?), and marketing muscle devoted to one man’s lens on America has severed PBS from its very roots," said Grace Lee. - The Hill
Eric Nuzum: "The average number of unduplicated shows aired over Saturdays and Sundays is 25. Do all those programs help build audience? Station listeners — including even core listeners who love your station and are its heaviest users — usually listen for a total of one or two hours every weekend. By scheduling so many programs, most stations are...
"If athlete-driven podcasts were once shoestring affairs, they've now been absorbed into the sports-media economy. Last year, The Ringer was acquired by Spotify for around two hundred million dollars." And the athlete-hosts don't talk only about the game; they sometimes have on as guests rock musicians, movie stars, entertainment execs, and politicians. - The New Yorker
Several prominent individuals in the industry have spoken out against the restrictive election laws just passed by the Georgia legislature and signed by Gov. Kemp. Yet studios and other companies — who have been willing to threaten boycotts in the past over such issues as Georgia's abortion laws — are keeping silent so far this time. What are their...
“Cinema-going will inevitably initially be at much lower levels, the question is what level will they return to,” says Richard Broughton, research director at Ampere Analysis. “There have been changes in consumer habits, with the boom in streaming, and theatre owners aren’t in the same position to put their foot down with studios over exclusivity.” - The Guardian
Some of those outspoken industry figures have even gone as far as to call for a boycott of the state, a movement that's waxed and waned over the years as other controversial legislation, largely concerning abortion and LGBTQ rights, has come and gone. The impact of a boycott could be significant, though, as Hollywood regularly shoots TV shows and...
In the backroom, staff members have been busy packaging thousands of online orders for Blockbuster T-shirts, hats and face masks, which are all made by Bend businesses. “It’s a little bit crazy, but it’s a very good thing,” said Bend Blockbuster Manager Sandi Harding. “We’ll take a little crazy if it means keeping the store open.” - Bend Bulletin
"Alan Schwartz, the trustee of a Truman Capote charity, is advancing a new copyright claim that arises from how Paramount has circulated a screenplay with the intention of turning it into a feature and selling it to a streaming platform. The project remains unproduced; nevertheless, Schwartz alleges … that because of the infringement, his side has already been...
The streamers battled it out with crates of artisanal food, top-drawer scotch, and other gifts to draw voters' attention to their movies. When Nomadland "premiered" (or rather re-premiered) on Hulu, for instance, "Fox Searchlight announced a virtual global premiere. ... Invitees to the event were sent the aforementioned crate—stuffed with gourmet cheese, 'humanly raised' salami, and trail mix—to enjoy...
Amazon Prime Studio's use of a fictional woman ("a complete piece of tosh, invented by a 19th century Romantic") to bring Leonardo and his life to the small screen isn't just fiction, it's flat-out wrong. Suggestion: "Why not go to the National Gallery when it reopens and look at Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks. The most hypnotic figure in it...
Yikes: "India Eva Rae, who joined Bafta’s Elevate programme in 2019, told the BBC that a casting director told her she was an 'exotic talent,' and that they 'can’t understand the English coming out your mouth.' Rae also said that she had been told not to report the incident by a 'mentor' on the scheme: 'This mentor told me and other...
Some of the fashion world is really not happy with the guidelines for the in-person Oscars. One fashion writer, echoing many stylists who enjoyed their freedom: "Honestly, all it’s done is make me wish that all the invitees would show up en masse in flannel nightgowns and Ugg slippers, just to thumb their noses at it." - The Guardian...
And, they say, it's past time for a change. Netflix has been particularly good at offering changing depictions this year, but the history of Asian women's depictions in Hollywood is far from fixed. Film scholar Celine Parreñas Shimizu: "The notion of a self-sacrificing, suicidal, servile, suffering, sexually available Asian woman is a prison from which we need to be...
The U.K.-based company also said it has secured binding commitments for $213 million in additional cash via a bond to boost its financial flexibility "in the event of continued disruption as a result of COVID-19." The funding and an expected $200 million U.S. CARES Act tax refund "will provide the group with a liquidity runway to year-end in the...
