Category: media

“But while their forced antics and sudden bursts of cruelty are often cringe-worthy, these people are never the object of satire or ridicule. Cassavetes films his characters with such deep compassion that even the crudest sally comes off as a gesture of love, a misguided bid for recognition. And when that recognition comes, in brief flashes … there’s a shock of emotional truth we rarely get to experience in life, let alone at the movies.”

“Like so many things, virtual law started with sex. Specifically, the first known legal case originating in a virtual world” — that would be Eros vs. Volkov Catteneo — “was over a bed designed for rolls in the virtual hay. … Although the courts have seen only a few such disputes so far, a number of law firms have created practices focused on virtual worlds and video games, or set up offices within Second Life itself.”

“Like a director who has just been told that his ambitious movie project must be scaled back, the Hollywood trade association recently took a big hit when its member studios cut as much as 20%, or about $20 million, from its budget, leading to staff layoffs in Los Angeles and Washington.”

“Local stations now average a record 4.6 hours of their own newscasts per weekday, according to a survey of about three-quarters of the nation’s TV newsrooms conducted for the Radio and Television News Directors Association. Sharp cutbacks in ad spending makes these newscasts far less profitable, the same issue bedeviling newspapers and prime-time entertainment. Yet news costs less than alternatives like syndicated newsmagazines or court shows.”

The British Academy Television Awards, held at the Royal Festival Hall and hosted by Graham Norton, provided a night of surprises that saw most of the favourites fail to win their categories.

Even though Fox said “shortly after the film leaked that the pirated copy was substantially different from the actual movie, including being ‘about 10 minutes shorter,’ people who’ve now seen the finished film are saying it is — gulp — exactly the same length as the pirated copy.”

“With a surprise announcement, WHYY laid off 16 full-time workers and one part-timer yesterday as part of what the organization characterized as ‘an employee restructuring plan’ designed to keep the budget balanced while WHYY moves ‘in new directions.’ The move, encompassing 8 percent of WHYY’s staff, should trim about $1.2 million in salary and benefits,” and countered what employees said had been management’s continual reassurances “that the station was economically healthy.”

“On Tuesday WNYC radio’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space will open its doors on Charlton and Varick Streets in Lower Manhattan,” offering passers-by the chance “to peer in on public radio in the making” as various popular shows “begin monthly broadcasts before audiences there. But the space, envisioned as a laboratory in which to rethink public radio as an interactive medium, will also host concerts, audio theater and political debates, many streamed live on thegreenespace.org.”

“Despite a box office that’s soared 17 percent so far this year, Hollywood’s year-long feature-film production dry spell has turned into a drought, leaving thousands of industry professionals above and below the line scrounging for work. According to IMDbPro, only 35 films are in production or have filmed in the U.S. since January, an 8.7 percent drop from last year, which was already low because of last year’s writer’s strike. And the slowdown is bad all over….”

“Hollywood is heading toward its first $10 billion year at the box office, scoring with moviegoers during the recession by pulling films from the crowded summer schedule and releasing them in theaters earlier. … The result is the fastest growth since 2002, according to Box Office Mojo, which puts this year’s gain at 14 percent.” The results “are convincing studios the first quarter has more revenue potential, and may explain why ticket sales are increasing when U.S. joblessness is at a 25- year high.”