Category: media

“More than 20 years after making his first splash with She’s Gotta Have It, Spike Lee is finally going to make it to Sundance. His belated debut – in the 25th year of the Sundance Film Festival – comes as director and co-producer of the film version of [Tony-winning musical] Passing Strange.”

“Filmport, Toronto’s giant but underused film stage, is about to get a new partner – the big British film company Pinewood Studios… If Pinewood does proceed with a partnership in Filmport and brings production business to Toronto, it would be good news for an industry that has been hit hard in recent years.”

“Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button dominated the nominations Tuesday for the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.’s 14th annual Critics’ Choice Awards, receiving eight nods each.”

“Wall-E has been named best film of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as Hollywood gears up for Thursday’s Golden Globe nominations. The Pixar film was chosen ahead of The Dark Knight by the body, which gave its best actor prize to Sean Penn for Milk.”

“U.S. universities are getting a glimpse at a plan that would build a small music-royalty fee into the tuition payments they receive from students. If successful, the model — proposed by digital music strategist Jim Griffin on behalf of Warner Music Group — could be expanded to make ISPs the collector of such micropayments,” which would free fans up to continue their downloading without the legal worries.

“Down the road, expect new ways to easily store digital movies online, so you can access them from any computer, anytime. We might also get theaters filled with dozens of speakers for super-sharp sound, as well as much more lifelike animated characters.”

“With an expected $50 billion in global sales this year, video games have turned into such a big business that established composers from film and television are signing on to create the sweeping scores and intricate sounds that help guide players through their missions.”

The TV business is changing quickly. So do ratings still matter?

“Gomorra,” a movie by Italian director Matteo Garrone about Naples’ criminal underworld, has won the best film prize at the 21st annual European Film Awards.

“There’s a whole segment of the British population that does not see its equivalent in serious broadcasting and that is women over 55. Now, that is not healthy for a broadcasting organisation’s relationship with its audience. The public should be represented on the screen in various colours, forms, sexualities, whatever.”