“An open invitation to a seminar for Muslim college students and recent graduates interested in Hollywood writing careers has placed the Writers Guild of America, West, at odds with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which was planning to hold the session on Tuesday.” One point of disagreement: whether the guild was helping the council to set up the program.
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Film Series Devotees Get A Meeting With LACMA Director
“[T]he founders of Save Film at LACMA are planning a ‘popcorn summit’ with Los Angeles County Museum of Art Director Michael Govan, who recently made the controversial decision to cancel the institution’s 40-year-old weekend film series. … LACMA officials have said that the film program has lost about $1 million over the last decade and that attendance at screenings has been declining.”
Charge: ‘Pure Greed’ Driving Exorbitant Fringe Venue Fees
“The director of a leading independent Fringe venue accused Edinburgh City Council yesterday of ‘pure greed’ in crippling small Festival operators with a huge rise in theatre licence fees. Julian Caddy, co-director of Sweet Entertainments, a rising player on the Fringe, said fees had risen a staggering 800 per cent in the past three years. His broadside against the ‘madness’ of the charges was backed by several other venue operators….”
The Bull’s-Eye And Other Bits Of Bathroom Brilliance
“Public conveniences of old may have been porcelain palaces – but by the mid 20th Century, that glamour had given way to municipal functionality. Now, the Royal Institute of British Architects is asking five leading architectural practices to come up with new ideas for the public loo.” An audio slideshow with architecture critic and “toilet expert” Lucinda Lambton.
LA Re-Creates Berlin Wall To Mark Anniversary Of Its Fall
“The Wall Project, painted by professional and amateur artists, will close Sunday afternoon traffic on one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares for three hours” this November, on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall. “In a reenactment of the actual events, invited dignitaries will break down selected portions of the Wilshire wall, which will be placed directly in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.”
Even Fans Of Google Books Want Privacy Safeguards
“Novelist Jonathan Lethem says Google should be ‘congratulated’ for its effort. Lethem adds, ‘This is the moment to take a look and say, “why isn’t it as private as the world we’re being asked to leave behind, the world of physical books?”‘ … Lethem is one of several authors — including Michael Chabon and Cory Doctorow — who have signed on to a campaign to pressure Google Books to offer greater privacy guarantees for its readers.”
How The Recession Is Changing The Chick Lit Narrative
In the recent boom years, when “the external circumstances were steadily sunny, writers looked mostly inside their characters for the energy to drive and motivate plot. But now, those of us who write women’s fiction for mass consumption must inevitably look outward again. We are not about to turn into Gaskell and Eliot. But like the great architects of the novel, we can write stories about heroines who must take on the world, not just themselves.”
Audio From The Oval Office: Nixon On Leonard Bernstein
“Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ had its première on September 8, 1971, at the Kennedy Center Opera House. The Kennedy Center opened the same night, promising a new era of culture on the Potomac. … In the weeks before and after the premiere, Nixon repeatedly discussed ‘Mass’ and related events with H. R. Haldeman, his chief of staff, and on one occasion with the movie star Ginger Rogers.”
What’s This? Journalists Who Have Money To Give Away?
“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hands out the Globes, handed out its annual round of financial grants at a luncheon on Tuesday. And the goody bag was full again. Total grants to 29 film schools and nonprofit organizations were $1,249,000, the association said, up from about $750,000 last year.”
British Museum May Appeal Rejection Of New Wing
“The British Museum, whose design for a building extension was rejected by a local authority, said it’s deciding whether to appeal the decision or produce a new design.” The Camden Council nixed the plan just days after the museum “said it had raised two-thirds of the money for the new wing and, planning permission allowing, could start building at the end of the year.”