The Ontario Film Authority was designed to operate on a cost-recovery basis, charging filmmakers fees for issuing ratings such as PG, 14A or Restricted. Its most recent annual report shows the agency brought in $2.2 million in revenue, but ran a shortfall of $130,000. – CBC
Author: Douglas McLennan
Is It Theatre Or Theater?
“I remember we thought we should use the British spelling of ‘theatre’ so that people would take us more seriously.” – Washington Post
Seattle’s Intiman Theatre: A Truly Existential Crisis
Myriad issues are to blame. Donors’ funding priorities have changed, and corporations are donating less to nonprofit theaters, making the fight for funding more competitive. High-quality entertainment can be accessed on-demand at low cost. Arts journalism has become more sparse, and the public, concerned about an economic slowdown, might be less inclined to show up. – Crosscut
When The Culture Wars Was About Your Aesthetic Taste
There was a time when we judged people, labelled them, loved them or hated them because of their taste in literature, art and even pop music. – The Spectator
Can Plants Think? There’s Evidence They’re Smarter Than We Think
The idea of a “plant intelligence”—an intelligence that goes beyond adaptation and reaction and into the realm of active memory and decision-making—has been in the air since at least the early seventies. – The Paris Review
An Architect Who Rebuilt A City After An Earthquake With “Half” Houses
Having been given a small budget to construct homes for low-income families, many of whom said they would like to expand their dwellings in the future, Alejandro Aravena hit upon the idea of building half of a larger, nicer home, and leaving the other half for the residents to finish themselves, either with their own hands or with help from local “micro-contractors.” – CityLab
You Have A Chronic Illness. Here’s How To Have A Rich Creative Life
With chronic illness, rigidity in your thinking and behaviour is the greatest barrier to living well with your illness. The only thing you can count on is the fact that you never really know what your day is going to look like, and that things are always changing. – Aeon
Why Has Performance Become Such A Big Part Of Visual Art?
Perhaps it’s precisely the soft science of working with and viewing other people that makes performance a refreshing counterpoint to an art industry that is increasingly commercialized and corporatized. Regardless of athleticism or ability, in dance traditionally made for the stage there’s a satisfaction – and, perhaps, seduction – in viewing the technique-driven, trained body of a performer. – Frieze
Co-Founder Jann Wenner Steps Down From Rock Hall Of Fame
In time, Wenner, who founded the Rock Hall with the record executive Ahmet Ertegun, became more associated with the institution than any other figure — becoming its top negotiator in the industry, as well as the person blamed, fairly or unfairly, for its shortcomings. – The New York Times
Can Artists Still Live In San Francisco?
From 2010 to 2018, approximately 882,000 new jobs were created in the Bay Area, but only around 100,000 new housing units were built throughout the region. The resulting white-hot competition for living space has forced anyone at a structural disadvantage — communities of color, artists, creatives — further toward the margins. – Hyperallergic