Many TV shows and movies have included mixed-race couples with little or no fanfare. “Most of the series with mixed couples take a colorblind approach to the romances, downplaying the dynamics or scrutiny that such couples might encounter in real life. The colorful mash-ups that made Lucy and Ricky on ‘I Love Lucy’ so intriguing yet familiar and comfortable have been toned down, largely stripped of cultural conflict and discovery.”
Category: media
The YouTube Star And The TV Network
David Lehre and his partners have a deal to make a tv show, and the deal came about based on his YouTube videos. “The question is how far this will take them. Up to this point they have been the beneficiaries of television executives’ aggressive search for programming that will halt the medium’s slide in popularity with younger audiences, even if, as in the case of Mr. Lehre, they’re not sure what they’re getting.”
Why Go To Film School? Just Buy The DVD
“Sold on DVDs and CDs, with names like “Film School in a Box” and “Make Your Own Damn Movie,” these programs, often conceived by people with no formal film training of their own, offer surprisingly detailed tutorials on a variety of film-related topics: blocking, editing, even fund-raising and distribution. Priced roughly from $50 to $500, they can instill confidence without the bother of hundreds of thousands of dollars of a formal education. Whether they can really teach how to make a good movie remains open to debate.”
Disney Brings Back Hand-Drawn Animation
Hand-drawn animation has had a rough decade as computer animation has taken over. Now Disney says it will bring back hand-drawn animation, the artform that the company was built on.
The Director Who Knew Music
Over the course of the studio era in Hollywood, however, there was only one director who employed music with such unfailing sensitivity that the quality of the scores accompanying his films became one of his trademarks. That director was Alfred Hitchcock.
TV On-Demand To Get An Amazonian Boost
“Amazon.com Inc. and TiVo Inc. have jumped into the digital download wars — with a twist. The new partners will send movies and TV shows directly to their customers’ living rooms… Unbox on TiVo joins a rash of new digital download services from retailers and entertainment companies, and builds on the Unbox service that Amazon.com launched last year.”
Canada May Toughen Copyright Laws
Copyright laws have been tightened considerably in the US and UK in recent years, in response to a growing market for illegally copied music and movies. But Canada has left its laws fairly lax, and now, a growing chorus of industry insiders and law enforcement groups is calling on the Canadian Parliament to, among other things, criminalize camcording in movie theaters without requiring proof of the offender’s intent to distribute.
How Bloggers Will Affect Oscar
“Roll your eyes all you want. Don’t take Oscar bloggers seriously. Hell, they don’t even take themselves seriously. Still, Oscar chatter leads to Oscar buzz, which can lead to Oscar nominations, which lead to money in the form of additional box office, increased DVD sales, and bigger paydays. As Hollywood blogs and the Hollywood hype machine both exist on chatter, it was only a matter of time before they struck an unseemly alliance.”
Quebec Politicians Curry Favor With Film Cash
“With a provincial election looming and Quebec filmmakers eager to bounce back from a relatively poor performance last year, Quebec’s major cultural organization has announced a 42-per-cent hike in its annual base funding for movie projects in the province.”
PBS To Launch Spanish Network
The Public Broadcasting System is starting a new digital channel aimed at Latino audiences in cities around the U.S. The new channel, which will offer “a mix of Spanish-language children’s and adult programming with an educational focus,” will be carried by 18 stations reaching 60% of the nation’s Spanish-speaking population.