Category: media

“The Cannes Film Festival has no shortage of big-budget 3-D spectacles…. But the immersive technology also is attracting a growing crowd of independent filmmakers, some of whom are making — and trying to sell — 3-D movies on a fraction of Pixar’s and Disney’s budgets. They are convinced that the stereoscopic effect can help separate their films in a cluttered marketplace and drive moviegoers into theaters.”

“In the wake of Disney’s rival media companies retrenching from their smaller film labels, many in the independent movie business fear that a similar fate awaits Miramax, one of only three such operations still in existence.”

“The recession has suppressed demand for commercial time during the shows the networks are planning for the 2009-10 season, which starts in September. That is particularly true for crucial advertising categories like automotive, retail and financial services. As a result, the broadcasters are making some startling moves in hopes of shaking up the market.”

Midway through the 62nd festival a few critical favorites have emerged, notably “A Prophet,” a sensational prison film and moral history from the French director Jacques Audiard that could just as easily be titled “Sentimental Education: The Story of a Young Criminal.”

“As alternative means of watching ‘television’ rapidly mature, the Danny Ledonnes of the world are at the vanguard of a potentially potent economic and social force. People like him could be poised to do to the broadcasting, cable and satellite TV industries what free music downloads did to the recording industry and free online news has done to newspapers — that is, alter everything about the creation, production and delivery of TV.”

“Locally produced films are enjoying a rise in popularity across many countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. In Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, local productions accounted for 28 percent of box office receipts last year, up from 17 percent a decade earlier, according to Screen Digest, a research company in London.”

“PBS stations are debating the limits of one of public television’s basic commandments: Thou shalt not broadcast religious programming. The discussion, some station managers fear, could lead to a ban on broadcasts of local church services and other faith-oriented programs that have appeared on public stations for decades despite the prohibition.”

“Debt-burdened Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is scrambling to refinance a $3.7-billion loan that could help put it back on a footing with the major Hollywood studios. MGM is paying almost $300 million a year in interest and faces a payment of nearly $1 billion in June 2011. The remainder of the loan comes due the following year.”

“A strong showing at the multiplex has been one of the few bright spots for the Hollywood studios, which have been buffeted by losses in DVD sales that have long propped up the movie business. More beneficially, however, the upswing at the box office has lifted theater operators, or ‘exhibitors’ as they call themselves.”

“The BBC has become a victim of its own incredible success. It has emerged as a hugely powerful player over the last 10 years across national and – increasingly – international media. During this time it has raced to increase its number of TV and radio stations and has managed to establish a dominant position in online news.”