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SAG-Aftra Negotiator: Let’s Make Using AI Really Expensive

Here’s the thinking: A lack of cost savings could dissuade employers from using AI-generated performers instead of real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis. “In my opinion, if synthetics cost the same as a human, they’re going to choose a human every time." - The Hollywood Reporter

Hamnet Is No Shakespeare In Love

It’s far worse: It does wrong by Shakespeare. "Hamnet changes many details and events in Shakespeare’s life to tell its story, but it is in its prestigeiness that it truly does Shakespeare dirty.” - Slate

Why It’s Good For The Washington National Opera To Part Ways With The Kennedy Center

Financially, it’s likely to be good for the Opera. “The news of the split could inspire a groundswell of support from longtime patrons who pumped the brakes on their operagoing in 2025 amid the Trump takeover. It may even serve to restore projects that were thought lost.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)

New York’s New Mayor Says Theatre Should Be For Everyone, Handing Out Free Tickets

“'The shared laughter in a crowded theater, the eager debrief after a musical, the heavy silence that hangs over all of us in a drama — these are moments that every New Yorker deserves,’ Mamdani said.” - The New York Times

South African’s Right-Wing Culture Minister Axes The Country’s Venice Biennale Proposal

The proposal by artist Gabrielle Goliath was a performance to mourn Gaza’s dead after Israel’s actions against the area. A spokesperson said that it wasn’t focused enough on South Africa: “We need to use our platforms to sell our country to the world.” - Hyperallergic

In A Last-Minute Decision, CBS Cut Best Original Score From The Golden Globes Broadcast

Welp, podcasts are in, music is out; sorry to "Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein, Ludwig Goransson for Sinners, Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another, Kangding Ray for Sirat, Max Richter for Hamnet and Hans Zimmer for F1: The Movie.” - The New York Times

The Writers Who Saw All Of This Coming

In case you need a list of dystopian novels to read instead of, hm, the news. - The Guardian (UK)

Those Teeny Tiny Microphones Are Ruining The Red Carpet

“Even if tiny mics are a trend that’s crossed over from influencer culture, they’ve become yet another obnoxious staple of the film industry that favors a viewer’s pleasure over decorum. Not everything needs to be kitsch, dumbed down, or turned into a competitive status symbol.” - Salon

Young Dylan Thomas, It Turns Out, Was A Serial Plagiarist

“The young Thomas was an enthusiastic contributor to Swansea Grammar School's magazine after joining as an 11-year-old in 1925, but Gallenzi found at least a dozen examples where Thomas had copied wholesale from work published in other magazines.” - BBC

Jerome Lowenstein, Doctor Who Helped His Tiny Literary Press Pick A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Book, Has Died At 92

“His detour into literature began in 2000, when he was asked by Martin Blaser, the chairman of N.Y.U.’s department of medicine, to join him and Danielle Ofri, who had worked with Dr. Lowenstein when she was a resident at N.Y.U., to start the Bellevue Literary Review.” - The New York Times

How Did Mystery Author Louise Penny Build Such An Intense, Huge Fan Club?

Her publisher sure didn’t help, at least not at first. But then the community “was nurtured and deepened by the connections that Louise made through her own efforts, touring, doing events in the U.S. and Canada, meeting readers face to face, and then also building a social media presence.”  - CBC

How Do You Move On From An Iconic, Long-Term Role?

Kit Harington’s timing was perhaps challenging. Game of Thrones finished; he went into rehab; then the pandemic hit. "When things started up again after the lockdown, Harington told his agent he wanted a ‘no swords’ rule for vetting potential jobs.” - The New York Times

What Do You Do For A Sequel When Your Spy Drama Was Groundbreaking, But Ten Years Ago?

“This second Night Manager season arrives at a moment when spy dramas have moved on, and in a grubbier, more down-to-earth direction than the one the first season ushered in.” - Slate

Love Island Got A Little Too Hot For TV

That is to say, climate change makes fools of us all, including reality TV shows: "Filming for Love Island: All Stars has been postponed after the villa was evacuated due to wildfires." - BBC

Hamnet Wins Best Picture For Drama At The Golden Globes, Raising Its Oscar Odds

“Chloé Zhao recovered from looking shellshocked to quote Paul Mescal, saying that making Hamnet made him realize that being an artist is about being vulnerable and being seen for who we are, not who we ought to be, and giving ourselves fully to the world.” - The New York Times

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