Dominic Cooke wishes today’s playwrights would take more chances. “new writing has a way to go in terms of ambition. That’s not just about having plays with large numbers of people: it’s about how much playwrights can challenge audiences. You see devised work that opens up the possibilities of what can be done on stage, and I don’t understand why that’s quite rare with new plays. The writers I know are just as imaginative and original as the auteur-directors who are devising shows.”
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Fox To Launch New Network
Now that the WB and UPN networks are slimming down to one, Fox has decided to launch a new network. It’s called the My Network. “As billed, the star attractions of the network will be a pair of hourlong dramas inspired by telenovelas. Like those Spanish-language TV staples, the new shows, Desire and Secrets, will air Monday-Friday, and commit to wrapping up their soapy story lines in 13 weeks.”
Technology Makes Us More Productive (Or Less?)
“Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it’s slowed everything down, paradoxically. We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you’re on to the next thing. It’s harder to feel like you’re accomplishing something.”
Actor Tries To Trademark The N-Word
Damon Wayans has been trying to trademark the “N” word. “Wayans wants to dress customers in 14 kinds of attire from tops to bottoms, and use the controversial mark on ‘clothing, books, music and general merchandise,’ as well as movies, TV and the internet, according to his applications. But, so far, his applications have been unsuccessful.”
Can Movies Be Agents Of Social Change?
“Movies can envision the need for social change, but it is unclear that they can help bring it about. They are better at pointing the way to a different, happier, more fulfilling life. Not the least interesting thing about the hopeless love dramatized in ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ which garnered eight Oscar nominations last week, is how many social hopes it has inspired.” Still, those hopes might not translate. “Movies can take on the great social problems of their time, but they may be the least effective — or appropriate — medium for solving them.”
Packaging Billy Elliott For Worldwide Distribution
“Plans are afoot to send the show to Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US. The challenge was finding talent among young boys in potential host countries. In the UK, auditions are still ongoing, with a casting director seeing children every two weeks around the country. This year in London, the musical – which contains the unusual conceit of tapdancing coal miners – will feature its first non-white Billys, set to take their places among the rota of seven young boys who share the role.”
At Miramax – The Man Who Replaces The Legend
Daniel Battsek has big shoes to fill as the new chief of Miramax. “Plucked last fall from Disney’s international film ranks in London, Battsek suddenly finds himself a major player in the competitive world of specialty films. The 47-year-old executive is under the gun to quickly reestablish Miramax as the kind of dominant force it was when the Weinsteins released such acclaimed hits as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The English Patient” in the late 1990s. It won’t be easy.”
Study: Movie Critics Avoid Reviews Of Bad Movies?
A new study of movie critics and reviews tries to find some common behaviors. “It finds that many film critics, faced with far too many movies to write about, tend to avoid writing reviews of bad films that they’ve seen. At the same time, a few critics, faced with the same overwhelming choice, tend to avoid reviewing good movies that they’ve watched.”
Hong Kong Culture Center May Still Go Ahead
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho says the giant cultural center planned for Kowloon is not dead. He said the new plan will “balance demand and supply. Some consultants have informed the government that in planning for cultural venues and artistic venues, it is frequently supply-driven rather than demand-driven. But then again, we believe it is prudent to listen to the voice of the community in their artistic aspirations.”
Auty: Make The Case For Arts Funding
Why more arts funding? So asks Giles Auty: “Hurling money at art has, of course, been a popular pastime in Western countries for as long as I can remember. It is the process, in fact, once memorably described to me by an English painter, Bryan Wynter, as ‘paying for van Gogh’s ear’. No other brief description encapsulates so wonderfully the notion that guilt-ridden rich societies ought to discharge a fiscal and moral debt to a group of mysterious people they may have unconsciously wronged or ignored.”