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Inside BBC World Service’s First Experiment With AI Translation

The broadcaster has just launched the website BBC News Polska, for which a team of four native Polish speakers is curating material on global news from the English-language service, using AI machine translation to render that content into Polish, and reviewing the accuracy of the translation before posting. - Press Gazette (UK)

Indie Filmmakers Are Using California’s New Tax Credits As Studio Features Go Elsewhere

“Of the 48 titles selected to receive filming subsidies, only five are feature films, announced the California Film Commission on Monday. They account for roughly an even split of the $96 million in tax credits that the state is allocating this round.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood Is Struggling. But Its CEO’s Are Making Out Like Bandits

The median compensation for media and entertainment executives for 2024 was $33.9 million, up 7% from 2023, according to figures from data company Equilar. - Los Angeles Times

Layoffs And Programming Cuts At Wisconsin Public Radio

“Faced with ongoing budget shortages and the possibility of federal funding cuts, Wisconsin Public Radio is laying off at least 15 staff members and has decided not to fill several vacant positions, while canceling four of its programs.” - Inside Radio

London’s Fabled Ealing Studios Get A Revamp And, Owners Hope, A New Life

“What we dreamed of doing was to make a studio that had all this history, the old stages built in the 1930s and the heritage since 1902, but also have the most modern facilities. … It needed to be absolutely fit for the 21st century.” - The Guardian (UK)

Pixar, Once The Golden Child, Is Having A Very Rough Time With Its Original Movies

What in the heck is going on? Since the pandemic, “while audiences often say they want to see new stories, box office ticket sales show they gravitate toward sequels, reboots and other familiar fare.” - Los Angeles Times

Money And Status Aren’t Everything, Right?

Right? Uh … TV creators? - Chicago Tribune

The US Administration Has Effectively Killed The Voice Of America

“Once a Cold War-era powerhouse for U.S. diplomacy, the U.S. Agency for Global Media has been gutted under a Trump executive order — slashing ... 85% of its workforce — in a move Kari Lake calls a win for taxpayers and critics warn is a death knell for press freedom.” - Salon

What Brokeback Mountain Meant Twenty Years Ago, And What It Means Now

Director Ang Lee: “That movie made me feel there’s a movie God who loves me and wanted me to keep contributing to cinema.” - The New York Times

Why Don’t The Emmys Have A Category For Outstanding Performance In Reality TV?

“The industry treats reality stars like the animals in a nature documentary: They can be compelling as we observe them in their habitat, but the true talent must come from the people behind the camera.” - Vulture

Despite Anger From Industry Workers, FilmLA Gets Five More Years To Handle Film Permits

The industry group argues that "$900 permits are not what is causing productions to flee L.A. That is just a drop in the bucket.” Unemployed workers feel differently. - Variety

“Jaws” At 50 – Why It Became Iconic

Jaws has earned the “classic” epithet. It invokes certain nostalgia for cinephiles and original audiences, many of whom fondly remember their first viewing. Aside from any cultural wistfulness, however, feelings towards the film may very well be a harkening back to a pre-neoliberal era when the embers of baby-boomer optimism still smouldered. - The Conversation

“Golden Girls” Gossip: Bea Arthur And Betty White Despised Each Other

Said co-producer Marsha Posner Williams, “When that red light was on, there were no more professional people than those women, but when the red light was off, those two couldn’t warm up to each other if they were cremated together.” (Arthur regularly used the c-word to refer to White.) - The Hollywood Reporter

Martial-Arts Classics Starring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, And Jet Li Will Get AI-Powered Remakes

“At the Shanghai International Film Festival on Thursday, a collection of Chinese studios revealed that they are turning to AI to re-imagine around 100 classics of the genre.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Netflix To Start Streaming Broadcast Channels

If it proves successful, Netflix and TF1’s partnership could unlock the door for more linear channels to air on streaming services, including in other parts of Europe and in the US. - Ars Technica

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