Stories

Paramount Pictures Launches Its Own Book Publishing Imprint

“Operating under the products & experiences division, Paramount Global Publishing ‘will develop complementary publishing content inspired by its iconic portfolio of brands and franchises as well as generate new IP through the creation of original stories.’” - Publishers Weekly

Lyric Opera Of Chicago Expands Season, Hires Sondra Radvanovsky As Artistic Advisor

While the company isn't back to the schedule it had before COVID, there will be six full productions plus one opera-in-concert, longer runs, a Haydn oratorio, and the return of the summer Broadway musical (this year, Guys and Dolls). Soprano Radvanovsky has signed on for a five-year term as artistic advisor. - Chicago Tribune

Maine’s Portland Museum Of Art Buys New Building

“The building, previously owned by MaineHealth, … was sold for $14 million. The plan is for the PMA to move its administrative offices to the new Free Street building, which is next door to the museum, as a way to open up space for more galleries in its main building.” - ARTnews

Hirshhorn Museum Director To Become Guggenheim Museum Director

Melissa Chiu, who has led the Hirshhorn for more than a decade, is the fourth director of a Smithsonian museum to depart within the last two years, and the most recent to leave amid the Trump administration’s effort to overhaul the organization’s network of 21 museums and other cultural centers. - The New York Times

Considering The Tap Shoe

“You’ll never say you didn’t hear them coming.” - AP

Getty Center To Close For A Year

The reopening of the museum, which draws about 1.3 million visitors each year, is planned for spring 2028, shortly before the Summer Olympics come to Los Angeles. - The New York Times

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Attorneys Argue His Prostitution Conviction Should Be Reversed On First Amendment Grounds

“Combs’s lawyers repeated claims they made before the trial judge, including an assertion that Combs’ films of sexual encounters between his girlfriends and male sex workers amounted to ‘amateur pornography’ and (were) protected by the First Amendment.” - AP

London’s Times Newspaper Reduces Story-Count, Increases Readership

Across the whole newsroom, The Times has gone from publishing more than 200 stories a day to about 150 – a 25% cut. - Press-Gazette

Our Zombie Entertainment Industrial Complex

Entertainment and tech companies have gotten smarter about putting consumers into bastardized flow states that leaves people feeling drained and sad rather than challenged and enlarged as selves. - Derek Thompson

Library On The US/Canada Border Gets A Door On The Canadian Side

For decades, people in Stanstead were allowed to walk around the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, but last year the U.S. limited access. Instead of walking a few metres, you’d have to drive down the street and go through a border crossing just to get in the front door. - CTV

The Fight To Keep A Collection Of Landmark Art From Leaving Mexico And Going To Spain

“One of the world’s most important collections of 20th-century Mexican art, including works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, is set to be exported to Spain under an agreement with Banco Santander, sparking outrage among Mexico’s cultural community.” Everyone involved insists that this is a temporary loan, though many aren’t convinced. - The Guardian

What The Ambitious New LACMA Building Is Trying To Do

The new LACMA, which opens to members in the coming weeks and to the general public May 4, is momentous not only because of its long and often bumpy road, but because it is seeking to reinvent what an encyclopedic museum means in the modern era. - The New York Times

What’s In The New Writers Guild Contract With Movies Studios

The studios will kick in $321 million — a record sum — to keep the writers’ health fund solvent. The health plan changes are the centerpiece of the four-year contract reached by the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over the weekend. - Variety

South Korea Shakes Up Its Cultural Leadership

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a series of high-profile appointments across its leading arts institutions, led by the naming of conductor and cellist Chang Han-na as the new president and chief executive of the Seoul Arts Center. - Moto Perpetuo

Family-Friendly San Jose Theater Company Is Closing. Its Owners Blame City Government

“Scott Guggenheim, who with his wife Shannon Guggenheim owns 3Below Theaters, cited an ongoing landlord dispute as one major factor in what he called a ‘difficult’ decision. ... ‘There were … specific issues — particularly around construction, signage, and commitments — that were not fully realized,' he told the Chronicle.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)

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