In a surprising break from industry standards, Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 slate — a list of films that includes “The Matrix 4,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” remake, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical adaptation of “In the Heights,” Sopranos prequel “The Many Saints of Newark,” and “The Suicide Squad” — will debut both on HBO Max and in theaters on their respective release dates. – Variety
Author: Douglas McLennan
NASDAQ Proposes Rule To Diversify Boards. Will It Accomplish Diversity?
The experience of some high-profile tech companies calls into question whether a diverse board leads to a more diverse workforce. Straight white men are a minority on the boards at Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google parent Alphabet. None of the four would have to make changes to comply with Nasdaq’s rule. But none has shown big progress in diversifying its workforce. – Wired
Jazz Standard’s Closing Is Likely Only The First Of Many More
According to a recent survey by the New York Independent Venue Association, 68 of its members have accrued $20 million in debt as a result of the pandemic, and they need more than $5 million in monthly relief. – The New York Times
Publishers Back Replacing BookExpo
Among the criticisms of the old BookExpo was that it was too expensive and had lost its way in trying to be all things to all people. – Publishers Weekly
Netflix Debuts A New Series Focused On Dance
Five A-list choreographers were hired to reflect the show’s varied moods and styles: Guillaume Côté, Juliano Nunes, Garrett Smith, Tiler Peck, and Robert Binet. In typical entertainment-world fashion, they had relatively few rehearsals with the cast. – Dance Spirit
Reconsidering The Diversity Of Classical Music
“Classical music is diversifying not just on account of contemporary composers, but thanks to increased awareness of figures who were famous in their day but have since been forgotten, covered up or sidelined. The history of classical music is much more complex and diverse than the impression given by the canon as we know it now.” – The Guardian
New York’s Jazz Standard Club Closes
It is the first major jazz club in the city to close permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic. – NPR
Finding Love (And Community) In Gaming
For many of us, virtual worlds are fertile ground for growing new friendships and romance. In online role-playing platforms, gamers may feel more confident in their social interactions than in real life because they can be seen exactly as they want to be seen, says Anthony Bean, a clinical psychologist in Fort Worth, Texas, and founder of Geek Therapeutics. – Wired
How Hollywood Studios Are Reinventing (Again) For The Streaming Age
“Amid the backdrop of the pandemic and the ongoing, years-long digestion of several mega-mergers, from Disney-Fox to ViacomCBS to AT&T’s WarnerMedia, pretty much every legacy entertainment house in town is in the process of maneuvering a massive ship-turning effort to better point their armadas in the direction of streaming.” – Variety
Secret To A Great Book? Mood
Horror is a mood, one of the most under-appreciated, under-discussed literary devices available to writers. And because horror is a mood, it’s subjective and transcends the limits of specific tropes or themes within a book—horror can be part and parcel of fantasy novels, mysteries or thrillers, literary fiction, and historical fiction. – Book Riot