“Two decades ago, [one distributor] says, moviegoers might not have heard about a nonfiction film before it was singled out by Oscar voters.” That has changed, “thanks to the proliferation of movie-related websites and the Twitter-speed transfer of word of mouth.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Equity Survey: Mice, Rats, Fleas Infest West End Theatres
“Perhaps the most shuddery response was from an anonymous actor who left makeup on her dressing table after a show: ‘I had tiny bite marks on my lipstick recently when I left the lid off.'”
Kennedy Center Gets A New Chairman
David M. Rubenstein, ranked “No. 123 on last year’s Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans, is co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Group…. He has an impressive track record of generosity in Washington and elsewhere. In six years on the Kennedy Center board, he has given the center $3.5 million.”
Tribeca Film Fest Spawns Distributor, Online Initiative
“The dual strategy, disclosed by Tribeca executives this week, puts this Manhattan-based festival and its corporate parent, Tribeca Enterprises, in the thick of a fight to revive the faltering independent film world with new distribution schemes.”
For Chopin’s 200th, A Museum Of His Very Own
“Located in Warsaw’s revamped 17th century Ostrogski Palace, perched on a hill near the Vistula River, the museum is designed to plunge visitors into Chopin’s universe via cutting-edge audiovisual and interactive technologies.”
Reflecting Its City, Detroit Institute Opens Islamic Gallery
“Sunday’s opening [at the Detroit Institute of Arts] comes as several museums worldwide are broadening their collections. … In Detroit, the gallery of about 170 works of art from the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Central Asia and India was several years in the making.”
Website Of London’s National Theatre Is Hacked
“A spokeswoman for the theatre said there had been a ‘security incident’ which meant an ‘unauthorised user’ accessed customers’ online accounts. But financial details of customers were not compromised as that information is encrypted, the spokeswoman said.”
Theatre Named For Critic Opens In Chicago
“The honoree — clearly deeply moved by the event — said he was looking forward to his namesake venue ‘taking its place among the theater listings.’ … [T]he first show is yet to come. But here’s the listing: The Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.“
Acting Challenge: Let The Audience See You Think
“[A]cting is active, while thinking — at least from the outside — is passive. Unless one resorts to tricks, tics, gimmicks and shortcuts — shrugging, scratching the head, arching an eyebrow, crinkling the forehead, stroking the chin — it is dauntingly difficult to put across the illusion that the synapses are firing away.”
Playwrights Flock To TV? Yeah, They Have For Years.
Jack Shafer: “Would the [Wall Street] Journal have run this bogus trend story had it spent two minutes on a Nexis search on the topic? The archives teem with similar stories about playwrights migrating to the electronic form.”