The Victoria & Albert Museum used to care deeply about architecture. Then came 1909, and a rough century… “Now it is all change again. Architecture is back. For a start, the V & A is taking its own building, its primary architectural exhibit, seriously. An intelligent new master plan that works with rather than against the building and should culminate in the restoration of the astonishingly rich South Court, carved up and hidden in an outrageous act of vandalism in 1949.”
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The Whitbread Shortlists
This year’s shortlists for the Whitbread Prize have been announced. Finalists include The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker prize-winning novel. Past winners include Philip Pullman, Ted Hughes, Kate Atkinson and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Women’s Review Closing
The Women’s Review of Books is publishing its final issue. It’s closing after losing money since the mid-90s. “The story sounds familiar. It involves shrinking library budgets, increasing costs for printing and postage, and changes in reading habits. The cumulative effect has been to undermine the stability of a journal that was publishing review essays by and about Kathy Acker, Raya Dunayevskaya, Marilyn Hacker, and Adrienne Rich when some of today’s “third wave” feminist scholars were in kindergarten.”
Axelrod Extradicted From Germany
Herbert Axelrod, millionaire and violin collector, who fled the US after charges of tax evasion, is to be brought back to the US from Germany this week. “In its indictment, the government accuses Axelrod of two counts of fraud — conspiracy and helping an employee cheat the Internal Revenue Service by funneling more than $1 million into a Swiss bank account. The combined charges carry a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”
Scream – Why No Insurance?
Why wasn’t Munch’s “The Scream” insured before it was stolen? It was “not insured against theft because the city of Oslo has decided it is simply too expensive—the collection is of enormous value. We’re insured against fire and water damage but not against robbery.”
Lion’s Gate Profitable On Moore Film
Lion’s Gate is back in the black again. The movie company saw a 205% increase in its motion picture revenue to $202.8 million thanks in large part to Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which it co-distribbed. The picture brought in about two-thirds of its $119 million domestic box office take during the second quarter starting July 1.
A Peek Inside The Screenwriter Mill
“Every year, about 50,000 screenplays are registered with the western division of the Writers Guild of America, with nonmembers paying $20 and members paying $10. Only a few hundred of those are bought or optioned by studios, producers and production companies – usually for relatively paltry sums. Of the screenplays that find a home, a mere fraction end up as finished motion pictures and then, more often than not, only after they have been eviscerated and rewritten by a succession of writers known as script doctors. Nevertheless, an industry has blossomed around the notion that anyone with a good idea and the right skills can rack up a hit.”
Immune To Ads?
Advertising is everywhere; it’s hard to escape. “Advertisers will spend hundreds of billions of dollars trying to reach consumers this year. The result? Advertising clutter. Researchers guesstimate the average American is exposed to hundreds, or even thousands, of ads each day. But marketers may be losing ground. We’ve been sprayed so much that we’ve begun developing immunities.”
Theatre Idol
Pop Idol was a hit trying to find telegenic pop singers. Now a new TV series in the UK applies the format to the Broadway musical, attempting to find stars worthy of the West End. “Yet it is the very difficulty of performing musical theatre to anything approximating a competent standard that, the makers claim, elevates Musicality above the level of your bog-standard TV talent show.”
Surprise! Chicago Arts Groups Lose Betting Income
Traditionally, the state of Illinois has distributed some of its income from Off Track Betting operations to cultural institutions. But in closing a state budget deficit, the money was taken off the table. “The lack of OTB grants this year will mean a combined $1.1 million loss for Chicago attractions that include the Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, attractions that officials say pump an estimated $500 million into the economy every year.”