Why is it so fashionable to dump on Sundance (yes, it’s that time of year again)? “Sundance has triumphed because it changes its public face at a moment’s notice—from pointy-headed and grave when indie film needs rejuvenation, to glamorous and cheerleading when indie film needs marketing brio. To wail about Sundance renouncing its founding mission is to assume the festival had a profound mission to begin with.”
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China Online – More Netizens Than US?
Within three years China will have more internet users than the US. “China’s net users number 100m but this represents less than 8% of the country’s 1.3 billion people. Market analysts Panlogic predicts that net users in China will exceed the 137 million US users of the net by 2008.”
A Drink A Day…
… helps keep you mentally sharp. At least, that’s what a new study suggests. Researchers found that women between the ages of 70 and 81 “who had the equivalent of one drink a day had a 23% lower risk of becoming mentally impaired during the two-year period, compared with non-drinkers. It made no significant difference whether they drank beer or wine.”
Washington Ballet Dancers Get To Vote On Union
The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that dancers of the Washington Ballet should be allowed to vote on whether to unionize. “In its decision, the NLRB rejected the company’s argument that the dancers were seasonal workers who could not unionize, noting that “the bulk of the dancers stay with the company multiple years.” The agency also found that two dancers/rehearsal assistants and two apprentices had the right to vote in the election. The company had argued that the rehearsal assistants were supervisors, and that the apprentices did not have a “community of interest” with other dancers.”
Dorian Goes Bust, May Liquidate
Dorian Recordings, one of the last record labels truly devoted to classical music, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, and things may be even worse than that bit of news would make it seem. “Typically, companies that file under the code plan to negotiate a settlement with their creditors, and continue to operate. But language in court documents suggests the classical recording label might be planning a liquidation, a move seen more frequently under a Chapter 7 filing.”
Paris Review Editor Out
The Paris Review is not renewing the contract of editor Brigid Hughes, who succeeded George Plimpton as the magazine’s top editor last January, four months after his death. “The resignation is a stunning development for the quarterly, which current and former employees say is struggling to adapt to a formal management structure and to being overseen by a board of directors that, for the first time, is trying to influence its editorial direction.”
Guggenheim Power Struggle: Krens v Lewis
Peter Lewis’ departure from the Guggenheim makes him the loser in a struggle with director Thomas Krens. “For years the two had diverged on what the museum’s focus should be. Mr. Krens was interested in creating Guggenheim satellites around the world to build on the raging success of its showy outpost in Bilbao. Mr. Lewis felt that Mr. Krens should keep the museum’s attention on New York, getting the finances of the mother ship in order and perhaps seeking once again to open a branch elsewhere in the city. Each came to the conflict with distinct advantages…”
You Skip The Commercials, We’ll Just Infiltrate The Shows
As TiVo and other digital video recorders captivate an ever wider swath of the American TV-viewing public, advertisers are in full panic mode. After all, how are the companies that pay for commercial television’s otherwise unsustainable programming supposed to see a return on their considerable advertising investment if every other viewer has the capability to simply skip the commercials? The answer seems to be in a new generation of product placement, with dramatic storylines actively working sponsoring brands into the action, a concept which viewers may eventually find even more irritating than traditional advertising.
Gardiner: Do-It-Yourself Recordings
Why did John Eliot Gardiner set up his recording label? “The catalyst came five years ago, when Deutsche Grammophon pulled out of a project to record all the 198 sacred cantatas that he, together with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, were performing on his millennial Bach Pilgrimage. The CDs were supposed to be, in every sense, a record of this historic tour, which began in the Bach heartland of Weimar and then criss-crossed Europe presenting the church cantatas on the feast days for which they were composed. In the event, DG issued only a handful of CDs from a potential 50 or more.”
Disney-Miramax Infighting Causing Concern
“Miramax, the alpha distributor that long dominated the indie-film scene, has been embroiled in contentious contract negotiations with parent company Disney, and all signs point to an imminent divorce, with Disney keeping the Miramax name and film library and Miramax co-founders Harry and Bob Weinstein raising money to start another company elsewhere.” But as this year’s edition of Sundance, the premiere indie film festival in the U.S., prepares to kick off, filmmakers associated with Miramax are in an awkward and uncertain position.