The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “left intact Rule Two, the one that established that a film” — including one produced by Netflix or Amazon — “can be eligible for Oscars if it has a minimum 7-day theatrical run in a L.A. County commercial theater.” (Sorry, Mr. Spielberg.) – Deadline
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Here’s The Problem With The Backlash Against The Millions Pledged For Notre-Dame
Kathy LeMay: “The problem with [the complaints] is this: they do not help fundraisers unlock donor giving. … Imagine if after giving to help a family in need, articles were written about you asking why you aren’t helping families around the world?” – Inside Philanthropy
Notre-Dame’s Organ Is Almost Completely Undamaged By Fire
“Pascal Quoirin, a specialist who restored the Notre Dame organ in 2017, … said ‘after two hours spent examining the instrumental part, I did not notice any damage that could have been caused by the fire.'” (Apparently, there is only dust that needs to be cleaned out.) – Yahoo! (AP)
Henry Wollman Bloch, Art Philanthropist And Co-Founder Of H&R Block, Dead At 96
The primary beneficiary of Bloch’s largesse has been Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: he spent three years as its board chairman, he and his wife are the name donors on the museum’s 2007 expansion and its 2015-17 renovation, and at the same time the couple gave a collection of 29 major Impressionist paintings to NAMA. – ARTnews
In Case Of Counterfeit Rodins, French Court Sentences Businessman And Art Dealer
Last week a court of appeals in Paris handed septuagenarian U.S. businessman Gary Snell a suspended prison sentence of one year and Parisian art dealer Robert Crouzet a four-month suspended prison sentence as part of an 18-year legal battle over counterfeited Auguste Rodin sculptures. – Artsy
In China, Two Historical Soap Operas Go Viral, And The Communist Party Promptly Cancels Them
The Story of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace smashed viewing records for the streaming services that showed them. Then the journal Theory Weekly (a title only a Communist bureaucrat could love) published an article condemning the series as “incompatible with the core values of socialism” and “[a] negative influence on society.” State media condemnation went on from there, and the series disappeared. Why? – The New Yorker
More Than 7000 TV Writers Have Fired Their Agents, Says Union
The writers’ union’s memo also claimed, “Most of the writers who haven’t yet signed termination letters are retirees or no longer actively working.” – New York Magazine
Suzanne Farrell Back At City Ballet – What It Means
Alastair Macaulay: “What makes Ms. Farrell so important? Her place in Balanchine history is central: She inspired him to make some of his most radically modernist works; opened up fresh torrents of Romanticism in him; showed how old roles could be transformed. She combined grandeur, musicality, wit, fervor and acumen to phenomenal degrees.” – The New York Times
Report: By Next Year More Canadians Will Be Streaming Than Paying For Cable TV
It’s an amazingly fast shift in how people are watching. The amount they watch hasn’t gone done, just how they access it. And, perhaps a shift in what they watch too. – CBC
Study: People Don’t Empathize Because It’s Too Much Work
“There is a common assumption that people stifle feelings of empathy because they could be depressing or costly. But we found that people primarily just don’t want to make the mental effort to feel empathy toward others, even when it involves feeling positive emotions.” – Pacific Standard