Is the bottom falling out of the market for high-priced Hollywood A-List stars? “The studios that were once eager to land top talent aren’t as willing to sign on the dotted line. Agents and managers are sitting up and taking notice. The studios have finally started to just say no.”
Category: media
Homogenizing The Cable Universe
There was a time when the 500-channel universe promised a niche for everyone, a channel to suit every taste. And for a while, that’s what we had. But lately, it seems that nearly every cable channel is sliding towards the same middlebrow pit – a show that airs on TLC could just as easily air on Discovery, Bravo, or even the once-highbrow A&E. But dumping the niche also seems to mean drawing a bigger audience, so truly distinctive channels may be a thing of the past.
It’s The Creativity, Stupid
Everyone hates ads, of course, but most of us would confess to occasionally taking pleasure in a particularly entertaining specimen or two. Still, if there’s one sector of the advertising world that has always seemed immune to the entertainment factor, it’s political ads. So when an advertising exec emerges who specializes in creating ads that people actually like to watch (and that are powerful enough to get a professional wrestler elected governor,) it’s quite a story…
Emmy Noms Announced
How fast do Hollywood trends move? This fast: the Emmy nominations were announced this morning in Los Angeles, and neither of last year’s big winners – Lost and Desperate Housewives – received nods for best series. The most-nominated show is 24, with medical drama Grey’s Anatomy also garnering several nominations.
Overhauling Emmy
The Emmys will be different this year, or so everyone is hoping. A series of rule changes regarding nominees has been designed to reduce the number of repeat winners and make the event less of a Hollywood popularity contest.
Your TV Online – Everyone’s Doing It
New internet-only TV shows are an indication of how hot online video has become. “The inter-tube trend has been ongoing since the late ’90s, but slow connections, poor buffering and small screens hampered it from gaining a mainstream following. Now, with over two-thirds of Internet users paying for broadband connections, the inter-tube is taking off.”
It’s Hot – All About The Video
“The success of YouTube, which a half-year after its launch is streaming more than 50 million video clips a day, has spawned 180 video sites in the past three months alone. Visits to online video sites have increased fourfold in the past six months. Online video has become the latest evolution in consumer-generated content.”
Just Wondering – Where are The Video Game Critics?
Video games have become a big cultural force. So where are the great video game critics? “Many people write video-game reviews and that there are entire magazines and myriad Web sites devoted to this subject. But what these people are writing is not really criticism. Almost without exception, it’s consumer advice; it tells you what old game a new game resembles, and what the playing experience entails, and whether the game will be commercially successful. It’s expository information. As far as I can tell, there is no major critic who specializes in explaining what playing a given game feels like, nor is anyone analyzing what specific games mean in any context outside the game itself.”
Hollywood In China?
“The Chinese film industry and Chinese politicians want their own version of Hollywood, to create blockbusters of Titanic proportions. It’s a strategy that’s half-succeeding; the Chinese industry is managing to make a few films that sell in the United States. But the other side of Hollywood—domestic box-office success—is proving elusive. As a result, the Chinese industry is increasingly making films designed to fit American tastes, like the Wal-Mart factories in China that make baseball mitts for American Little-Leaguers.”
Studio Fears Of Film Fest Piracy
Film studios are cracking down on film festivals, in some cases removing their films because of fears of piracy. “The leading film festivals offer potential pirates tempting fruit. Those festivals (Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Telluride, Berlin, Venice) tend to show acclaimed films months before their theatrical premieres. Cellphones are rarely confiscated at festival doors; in fact, scores of Sundance Film Festival attendees talk and send e-mails on their mobile devices during screenings. Finally, festival venues are usually run by volunteers, people with little expertise in security issues.”