Why? Money, of course: to put it in business-speak, the companion podcast “offers a new way for creators to diversify IP assets.” What’s the draw? “People want to spend more time thinking and talking about the shows that they’re watching, whether they’re binge-watching it or watching it once a week,” says HBO’s director of podcasts. “It’s on their mind, and it’s a platform that really complements their watching experience.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Penn State University To Build Largest Art Museum Between Philadelphia And Pittsburgh
“The new [$85 million,] 71,000-square-foot facility will be constructed alongside the botanic gardens at the university’s arboretum. It will increase the size of the museum by more than 40%, adding more space for exhibition, collections, and education as well as visitor services and administrative offices for the museum and the arboretum.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Late Eli Broad: My Talk with the Under-Appreciated Overachiever Who Energized LA’s Cultural Life
“Everything I’ve done in my life,” he told me at the beginning of our wide-ranging conversation in his office, “has really been to challenge the status quo—not to be satisfied with the way things are, but to try to improve them.” I “get” Eli, perhaps because (as I learned from his book) we had a lot in common. – Lee Rosenbaum
Former Dance School Comptroller Pleads Guilty In Million Dollar Fraud Case
Sophia Kim, former comptroller for the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., “gambled with funds she was overseeing as the academy’s comptroller. Over nine months in 2018, investigators say, Ms. Kim wrote checks to herself and used her academy bank card 120 times to withdraw cash and pay off losses at the MGM Grand Casino near her home in Temple Hills, Md.” – The New York Times
Doctor Who And Torchwood, And Men Behaving Badly
First there were reports that Noel Clarke, who played Mickey from 2005-2010 on the Doctor Who reboot, was a serial sexual harasser and bully. Now come reports that John Barrowman of Doctor Who and Torchwood repeatedly exposed himself on both sets. – The Guardian (UK)
Writing, It Turns Out, Can Be Rather Difficult
Masterful essay writer Elissa Mashuta: “This is the dilemma at the heart of the process: writing would be easier if I had an assured end point to aim for, but the essay only works if I begin without knowing what I’ll find as I advance through the paragraphs. I want to control everything, but the essay won’t let me.” – LitHub
Hollywood Publicists, Netflix, And Amazon Push Golden Globes Group To Reform
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s released list of “reforms” didn’t impress anyone much. Instead, the list set off “a remarkable cascade of criticism toward the embattled HFPA, plunging the group into further turmoil as it attempts to weather a crisis that has imperiled its awards show and its very existence. By Friday evening, two of awards season’s biggest power players — Netflix and Amazon Studios — distanced themselves from the organization, revealing that they would cut ties with the HFPA until it goes further in its plan to remake itself.” – Los Angeles Times
Broadway Reopens In Four Months, But Theatre Workers Still Need Help
A survey released by the Actors Fund says that “40% of the arts and entertainment respondents reported being more food insecure during the pandemic, 28% were behind in rent or mortgage payments and 20% had been forced to change housing” – and nearly 80 percent could use some mental health help as well. – Broadway News
Can These Movies Save The 2022 Oscars?
Yes, it’s a bit early to start placing bets, but still: “There are many nervous insiders hoping the post-pandemic pendulum will swing back toward those big mainstream movies. So here’s an early look at the presumptive awards field, starting with the very movies the Academy is surely hoping will save the Oscars.” – Vulture
When Conditions Are Ripe To Fall For Misinformation
“People become more prone to misinformation when three things happen. First, and perhaps most important, is when conditions in society make people feel a greater need for what social scientists call ingrouping — a belief that their social identity is a source of strength and superiority, and that other groups can be blamed for their problems.” – The New York Times
For First Time, No Individual Artists Are Finalists For Turner Prize
“The choice of collectives reflects the fact that few artists have been able to publicly show anything over the past year. It prompted judges to focus on groups of artists whose collaborative work has demonstrably continued, not always in the confines of a gallery. The shortlist is Array Collective, Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S), Cooking Sections, Gentle/Radical, and Project Art Works.” – The Guardian