“Just as the cable revolution overturned broadcast, the net is destined to become the dominant mode of video, both in terms of transit and programming. The cable industry is seemingly protected by its built-in local monopolies, but as broadband connections proliferate—by now rendering the copper cable connection almost obsolete—the only thing propping up the status quo is a business arrangement that bundles channels together for a steep price. As more people cut the cord—and as smaller bundles become more popular—we will reach a tipping point that sees the collapse of cable.”
Blog
Are Alt-Weeklies Dying?
Storied alt-weeklies like Philadelphia City Paper, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Boston Phoenix, Knoxville, Tennessee’s Metro Pulse and its replacement may have shut down. But last week, Local Independent Online News Publishers reported that it added 19 new members in 15 states. LION now has 160 local news publishers as members in 39 states. So are alt-weeklies dying? Or are they finding a kind of new life online?
End Of An Era: Village Voice Writers Reflect On The End Of The Legendary Weekly’s Print Edition
“I think everybody was stunned,” film editor Alan Scherstuhl told Esquire. “You know how you always expect this will be the last month things keep going? Everybody is kind of surprised, but also like, ‘I can’t believe we got away with it this long.'”
Walmart Family Gives $150 Million To Establish Arkansas’s First Art School
The school will emphasise the study of art in the US and Americas, says the university’s chancellor, Joseph Steinmetz, and administrators hope that the art school will attract a greater number of out-of-state and international students. Around 6% of the current student body is from outside of the US, representing 112 countries, according to the university’s website.
The Manchester Model – A Solution For Shared Community Arts Spaces?
The idea is to offer areas that are affordable to everyone, all the while “cross-pollinating” ideas that lead to a culturally vibrant city, whether it’s providing a desk for a playwright, allowing a theatre group share services with an asylum seeker’s support group, or renting out a cheap space for a club DJ to try out music’s next big thing (maybe).
Netflix Is A Player. But Does It Have An Aesthetic?
“Sensibility? Aesthetic? Identity? Netflix ain’t got time for that. Its story started out as one of revolution, which has instead been overtaken by a case of quantity over quality. Now, rather than being known for a house style or a tastemaking effect on popular culture, it is becoming known for its raw desire to win the race, bragging about its latest deals (Shonda Rhimes! David Letterman!) and conquests.”
Can Twitter Be An Engine For Fan-Sourced Movies?
“At their core, these Twitter-generated film concepts evince a desire for representation beyond Hollywood’s limited, predominantly white imagination. But while Black Twitter continues to be an unprecedented vehicle for creativity—and, increasingly, a reliable form of audience focus-testing for Hollywood—can a viral fancasting phenomenon like this realistically change the industry’s status quo?”
What The French Understood About Jerry Lewis
Agnès C. Poirier: “Jerry Lewis was always a subject of a deep trans-Atlantic misunderstanding, one that triggered sarcasm in the United States, and bewilderment in France. While some Americans felt embarrassed by this contortionist comic, the French embraced Mr. Lewis’s humor as both an abstract art and social satire of American life. Americans mocked the French for falling for this crass clown, while the French couldn’t understand why Mr. Lewis’s genius was not obvious to his compatriots.”
60,000 Works By Dalí Are Coming To Market
They’re ceramic tiles (who knew?), designed and produced in Spain in 1954, and titled, collectively, La Suite Catalane.
A Musical Plays For Thousands, Deep In The Dakota Badlands
Laura Collins-Hughes travels to western North Dakota to see The Medora Musical, “a spangled summertime revue performed in an amphitheater carved into the side of a butte, with the Badlands as its backdrop. Part country music jamboree, part variety show, it’s a wholesome cousin to the loosely scripted entertainment you find at theme parks … The crowds have been coming since 1965, and when this season wraps up on Sept. 9, the producers expect attendance for 2017 to have passed 116,000.”