Media

It’s not easy for film and TV production location scouts at the moment. There’s a lot of digital photography, and a lot of after-the-big-Zoom-meetings adaptation. One location manager “wonders if she’ll soon be using her new iPhone 12, which has Lidar light detection and ranging capability, to scout locations.” – Variety

The final pre-9/11 Oscars (can that be real?), the Oscars where Gladiator beat Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and where Marcia Gay Harden won (deservedly! but perhaps cursedly?) for Pollock … what else should, or could, have happened? – Los Angeles Times

The intense responses to the R. Kelly, Britney Spears (who, unlike the others on the list, is not portrayed a predator but rather a woman much preyed upon), Michael Jackson, and Woody Allen documentaries have surprised filmmakers – after all, most of the info was already part of the public record. One producer: “The loudest and most impactful documentaries … [have] something that can connect to the viewer on a personal level, which makes all the difference.” – Washington Post

Even weeks after the Golden Globes, Hollywood isn’t relenting; this reckoning has been a long time coming. “Now, with the very survival of the Globes hanging in the balance, some in Hollywood remain unconvinced that the insular and notoriously fractious group has the capacity, or perhaps even the self-awareness, to undertake the sort of transformational reforms it has vowed.” – Los Angeles Times

Is the binge better? Or is it OK to let episodes marinate for a week before returning to a story? When Netflix first dropped entire seasons, it blew everyone’s mind. But now, perhaps, the choices are simply “one more set of storytelling tools — like shooting in front of a studio audience, or not — creatively suited to different kinds of stories.” – The New York Times

Start with an “electrostatic disinfectant sprayer,” add in a seat buffering system, and don’t forget prepackaged condiments for your popcorn. (But … what about air flow and vaccine requirements? Hm.) – Variety

The effort, dubbed the Hollywood Skyway, would have cost the studio an estimated $100 million. The tramway would have taken visitors on a six-minute ride more than 1 mile up the back of Mt. Lee to a new visitors center near the sign, with pathways to a viewing area. – Los Angeles Times

“We are treating the event as an active movie set, with specially designed testing cadences to ensure up-to-the-minute results, including an on-site COVID safety team with PCR testing capability. There will be specific instructions for those of you traveling in from outside of Los Angeles, and other instructions for those of you who are already based in Los Angeles.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Amitabh Bachchan, who’s been a superstar in India for 50 years, has campaigned for years for the preservation of film from Indian cinema’s early history, which goes back to 1931 for talkies and 1913 for silent movies. Some 80% of Bollywood’s output from 1931 to 1950 is lost or unavailable to the public, and out of more than 1,100 silent films made there, only 29 are known to have survived. And much of that old celluloid is in poor condition. – BBC

Among other things, the IT Rules 2021 require social media platforms to deploy AI-based technology to identify sexually explicit content, trace the originator of encrypted messages, introduce a “voluntary verification system” for its users, and hire local teams to respond to both Indian users’ and government’s complaints about content. Regulations for platforms with more than 5 million users will be even tougher. – Global Voices

Far from the WASP families in suburban homes seen in Father Knows Best and Leave It To Beaver (and The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family and on and on), The Goldbergs — created by its star, Gertrude Berg, who also wrote every episode — featured a thoroughly Jewish immigrant couple and their American-born children in a Bronx tenement. And 1950s America loved it. – BBC

“The blueprint for the plan, which is called ‘The BBC Across the U.K.,’ commits at least an extra £700 million ($978 million), cumulatively, across the country by 2027/2028. … The expansion also includes the relocation of 400 positions, with half from BBC News and the other half from radio. Around 200-300 new roles in local content journalism will also be created.” – Variety

The “Icarus of subscription services” seemed too good to be true when it started selling $9.99-a-month memberships that would let you see a movie in a theater literally every day — and so it was. The more customers it got, the more cash it hemorrhaged, and it died a long, humiliating death over the course of 2019. But this week a new web page appeared, saying only “MoviePass™ — the movie is about to begin” with a countdown clock with an end date of next Monday morning. The former CEO says he knows nothing about it. – Variety

In Sub-Saharan Africa there are and have been numerous impressive filmmakers, but only Nigeria and South Africa have fully developed industries in which films can be funded, shot, edited and gotten to a wide public, all domestically. But the continent is full of growing markets that Netflix would like to enter, the company has plenty of money to fund films, and high-speed Internet access there is spreading. – The Guardian

“U.S. video streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are looking to the Indian market to power their global growth. But their shows are facing the wrath of Hindu nationalists, often linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, which wields increasing clout over what is acceptable entertainment. Now, the government has stepped in, raising fears about shrinking space for creative freedom.” – The Washington Post

While Britain hasn’t seen the cash influx — about $2 billion — that streaming and traditional media companies have spent snapping up the American podcasting companies in recent years, listening numbers here have surged. Nearly a fifth of the British adult population, more than 10 million people, now regularly listen to podcasts; entertainment and tech companies, investors and advertisers have been taking note. – The New York Times

Of course you do! (And there are articles about the highest profile snubs everywhere as well.) – Variety

No, really. “Sharing user names and passwords with even your closest relations can have woesome consequences” – and the Netflix crackdown might help save your identity in the future. – Wired

That is, the fast food chain, not underground trains. The reason: “Product placement in TV shows is a reality the world over. But South Korea’s terrestrial stations are prevented from inserting commercial breaks during programming, meaning many Korean companies must be creative about getting their wares in front of viewers.” – The New York Times

That’s what it’s poised to do in 2024, or so the predictions say (on the other hand, who could have predicted that every family with children would be stuck at home needing some Disney to stream when Disney+ debuted in 2019?). – The Guardian (UK)

Good: “Some film insiders are privately asking an uncomfortable question: How do you tastefully campaign for trophies when more than 1,000 Americans a day are still dying from the coronavirus?” Not as good: “Calling off the campaigns is not an option for Hollywood, where jockeying for awards has become an industry unto itself.” – The New York Times

Here we go: “When users open the Netflix TV app, they will be asked to verify their account with a code that is either texted or emailed to the account holder. If they aren’t the account holder, users will be reminded, ‘If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.'” – Los Angeles Times