So it’s fair to say that “Canadian Idol,” the TV talent show competition, is a hit in Canada this summer. But it isn’t just a hit – it’s a ratings monster, scoring some of the best numbers ever for a Canadian TV show. “The show pits young Canadian crooners against each other for a shot at a recording contract. It has become so popular that it is even beating some numbers from this year’s Stanley Cup.”
Month: August 2003
Net Gain – Indie Film
The internet has emerged as an important force in the indie film industry. “The emergence of virtual film festivals and the continued presence of veteran Web sites such as iFilm and AtomShockwave’s AtomFilms has made the world of indie filmmaking more accessible to the technologically savvy and has given aspiring writers, directors, producers and actors a new means of making connections. What the Internet has done for filmmakers is to lower the point of entry.”
Phantom At 7000 – Bigger Than Star Wars…
The musical “Phantom of the Opera” plays its 7,000th performance in London. The musical has “packed theatres the world over and grossed £1.6 billion at the box office – more than any other film or stage play, including Titanic, Star Wars and ET. Written-by Andrew Lloyd Webber and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, Phantom opened in October 1986 starring Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman.”
Dallas Public Station Sold
Dallas public broadcasting company announced it will sell a station. “Broadcasting deals announced Monday would replace one of Dallas’ two public broadcasting stations with a religious channel and add a Spanish-language station to the area’s growing roster.”
European Heat Wave Kills Box Office, CD Sales
The heat wave in Britain is affecting the movie box office and sales of music. “Box office business at the weekend was down 13% on the previous week, while many films suffered a drop in earnings.” Music album sales were also down about 15 percent.
Fringe At Center Stage
It used to be that the Edinburgh Fringe was an adjunct to the tonier Edinburgh Festival. No longer. “For the 250,000 odd who pour into the Scottish capital – a 50 per cent population increase – the chief draw is the Festival Fringe (August 3 to 25). Once a mere tangent to the snootier international festival, it is now the world’s biggest arts event. Scorning fears of SARS, terrorism and war, hotel-room bookings are buoyant, ticket sales are robust and records have already been broken: there will be 21,594 performances of 1541 shows by 668 companies in 207 venues, the first time the number of venues has topped 200, 24 more than last year.”
Massed Singing In The Rain
A mass public performance of dance from the movie “Singing in the Rain” is being mounted in Australia as part of the Melbourne Festival. “Thousands of people are expected to don raincoats and gumboots at Federation Square on October 9 to learn the dance immortalised by Gene Kelly in the film of the same name. A Melbourne Festival spokeswoman said as far as they knew, it was the first time a mass production of the the dance with members of the public had been undertaken.”
Australia Making Fewer Films
Are fewer features films being made in Australia? Yes, says the Australian Film Commission’s chief executive. And the reason is lack of funding – both private and government. “There’s less money to make them. The funding that’s available through either direct or indirect government support is less than what it has been in the past.”
When Boston TV Covered The Arts (No Longer)
There was a time when Boston TV stations each had arts reporters (or entertainment reporters, at least). But the stations have one by one eliminated the jobs. One explanation: “They have access to so many syndicated sources for entertainment stories, movie reviews and the like, that having a local arts reporter becomes redundant.”
A New Reality For Arts Funding
Are arts organizations facing a new era? An era when government withdraws its support for the arts? “The best advice to nonprofit arts organizations is cold, but realistic: Go out and have a bake sale. The days of generous, hefty, government support of the arts are numbered. The bottom line to dwindling government support isn’t hard to figure out. Everything costs too much.”