New York is building a $150 million 15-acre movie studio complex in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Steiner Studios, named for the shopping center tycoons who are funding the mega-project out of their own pockets, promises to be in operation next year. Their hope is to regenerate a Gotham entertainment business that peaked back in 1998—when 221 films were shot in the city (compared with 180 last year) and the plans for the Brooklyn studio first emerged. But now, while producers, crews, and city officials agree that New York’s film and TV infrastructure seriously needs a face-lift, there are doubts about whether our entertainment sector—already struggling with the flight of productions to cheaper locales—can sustain such an ambitious venture.”
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Canadian Dramas Disappearing From TV
A new report says that since the Canadian government loosened requirements for Canadian content on TV, “the number of hours devoted to English-language, Canadian-made dramas during peak hours has steadily dropped. Programming dollars have been diverted to non-drama programming, and Canadian dramas have been loaded into less important time periods and away from crucial November sweeps.” This is a problem because “television drama is the most powerful cultural medium a nation has to reflect history, character and values. Our report clearly demonstrates that the current Canadian broadcasting system has all but abandoned this reflection.”
Upping The Violence Factor
Violence in movies has escalated to higher levels than ever before. “Explicit film content ebbs and flows through the years. But lately, partly because of an influx of controversial imports, the flow has become a gush of blood. The standards of what can and can’t be shown have been blasted away like a Peckinpah anti-hero. And not everyone thinks that’s such a bad thing.”
Why Canadian Dramas Are Disappearing
Why are there fewer Canadian dramas on Canadian TV? “It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: Don’t promote the shows, they don’t get watched. No ratings result in no promotion. No ratings and no promotion means no program, except by regulatory fiat. The amount of disrespect that broadcasters such as CTV and Global have for their own Canadian programming extends to how they tend to schedule it — in so-called “shoulder periods” out of the primest primetime or on nights (Fridays and Saturdays) when audiences are smallest. Add to that how the networks bounce the series around to capitalize on simulcasts of their American acquisitions and the Canadian series don’t stand a fighting chance.”
Boston Lyric Opera Cuts Season
Boston Lyric Opera cuts its season from four operas to three. “We are operating from a position of strength, and we do not want to lose that in the current difficult economic climate. We can’t do four operas for the price of three, and we do not want to compromise the quality of what we do. Large five- and six-figure gifts are coming in smaller and slower. We wanted to present a world premiere, but we have had to postpone that again because the donors who are helping us with that are not in a position to give what they would like to.”
Protesters Paint Sydney Opera House
Two protesters climbed to the top of the Sydney Opera House and painted “No War” in giant red letters Tuesday. “The graffiti on the highest sail of the ornate building made a mockery of the supposed increase in security at two of Australia’s most readily identifiable landmarks, the opera house and nearby Sydney Harbour Bridge.”
Are British Readers Abandoning Newspapers?
British newspapers are ailing. “Advertising revenue shows no signs of recovering after falling for the past two years, and the latest circulation figures suggest that nearly all titles have lost sales over the past year. Journalists are worrying about their jobs, and managers about the newspapers they manage. An article in the Economist suggests that the newspaper industry is in long-term decline, and that even those young people who can actually read are turning away from papers in increasing numbers. The sense of gloom is infectious.”
Should Artists’ Estates Be Protected For The World?
The estates of Francis Bacon and Andre Breton are currently in danger of being broken up and sold. “Our instinct cries out to protect the ‘integrity’ of such inheritances by keeping them together. But is that justified? Should the state, as it does in France, have a say? Or should great art have a life of its own when its creator dies, beyond the control of its maker and his loved ones?”
Writers To Get Sheep Permissions
Five notable writers will soon have the right to drive sheep through the city’s main street. Liverpool city council formally votes at a special meeting tomorrow to honour Alan Bleasdale, Carla Lane, Willy Russell, Jimmy McGovern and Dame Beryl Bainbridge as freemen of the city. It’s an honorary title, but it does carry the benefit of the sheep thing. And free rides on ferries…
Of Goalies I Sing…
Any doubt that opera is the high-art form of the moment? “The Czech National Theater said on Monday it was working on an opera to commemorate the surprise gold medal victory of the Czech men’s Olympic ice hockey team in Nagano in 1998. ‘It is a kind of modern Czech legend and operas have always been based on legends. We know it is an unusual motif but it is quite interesting and able to carry some kind of a musical form’.”