Author: Douglas McLennan

HOW TO BE A POP MUSIC STAR

A Seattleite is one of the internet’s hottest musicians – he recently almost won a Yahoo award, and his music is consistently one of the Top Ten MP3 downloads. One thing – he’s never performed in public and says he knows nothing about the recording industry. “But then again, if you’re taking in $10,000 a month without touring, doing promotions or even lifting a finger, who needs a record contract?” – Seattle Times

“ARTS MAYOR” TO THE RESCUE

Thomas Menino, Boston’s self-styled arts mayor, wants desperately to help out the city’s baseball team. “In a plan championed by the mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Menino effectively told Boston’s struggling artists the following: If you help me drum up support for subsidized housing for the Sox, there might be some cash in it for you.” – Boston Herald

EXHIBITION ETHICS

“Do you cancel a play if it provokes violence on the streets? Do you accept an exhibition of paintings collected by a businessman jailed for defrauding shareholders?” Such ethical dilemmas were discussed Monday at ‘Turn up the Heat’, an ethics conference of arts administrators in Sydney. – Sydney Morning Herald

ARTS WINDFALL

Britain’s Culture Secretary Chris Smith unveiled a huge funding package for the arts Tuesday to rejuvenate the country’s arts infrastructures – regional theatres in particular – that have suffered tremendously during more than twenty years of lackluster government support. The Arts Council of England will receive an extra £100m a year from 2003, the biggest increase in funding in its 44-year history. “What it says is that access to arts and creativity is a basic, like health and education.” – The Guardian

  • AND THE SQUEAKY WHEEL… Arts Council Chairman Gerry Robinson has been lobbying the government for an extra £100 million in arts funding for months – and yesterday’s announcement proves they heard him loud and clear. “He badgered the Prime Minister and Chancellor to the point where, he believes, “I seriously p***ed people off. At the end of the day, someone like Blair or Brown will say, ‘Oh, for Chrissakes just give them the money.'” – The Telegraph (UK)

THE $543 LUNCH

Philadelphia restaurant critic goes for lunch in New York’s hot new restaurant. “It is enough to do a triple take at the prices, even as you settle into the Brazilian rosewood and gold-trimmed opulence of the dining room, with its Neapolitan fabrics, polished black columns and exploding rose bouquets. Did I just order a $50 appetizer? An $80 steak? Coca-Cola for $8? Uh-huh.” – Philadelphia Inquirer

SENSITIVE NEW AGE GUYS

Guy movies may no longer fall into the category or beat-em-up, shoot-em-up, testosterone-y macho propaganda – there seems to be a new wave of films that present more feeling, sensitive men. “John Wayne on a prairie, the man alone, definitely is something I can’t relate to,” says one director. “I want to love, I have needs. Men around me in my life, they’ve got needs. In this day and age, I think it’s become necessary to depict that.” – The Age (Melbourne) 07/26/00

HOLLYWOOD NORTH

Toronto is crawling with movie projects this summer. “In the first half of 2000, the value of production in Toronto was $352.8 million, according to agency data. That’s an increase of 15.2 per cent, from $306.2 million in the first six months of last year, and it doesn’t include the millions of dollars spent on TV commercials, animation and special effects.” Sixty-one percent of the projects come from the US. – Toronto Star 07/26/00

BOSTON STRONGARM

Do Boston teamsters shake down Massachusetts movie producers to ensure they use union crews on locations? “Local film producers and officials said yesterday the Teamsters’ heavy hand has been felt in Massachusetts movie-making for decades and is a main reason major studios and independents avoid shooting in the Bay State.” The FBI is investigating. – Boston Herald 07/26/00

WHO OWNS A DANCE?

Increasing sophistication about preserving the legacy of dance is creating a welter of problems for dance companies wishing to revive older choreography. “There was a time when the chief impediment to reviving dances was that the work was out of fashion. Now, death and the notion of ownership have seemingly created even more insurmountable problems.” – New York Times