Category: media

The producer of the hit movie “Chicago” is suing Miramax, claiming the company is misrepresenting profits on the film. “The suit contends that while precise figures are not available, Richards believes the film has generated over $300 million in gross receipts for Miramax. He claims the financial statements he receives from Miramax are “omissive, false and misleading” because they understate revenue from video and DVD sales and foreign release, while overstating overhead.

Researchers report that “older women who say talk shows and soap operas are their favorite TV programs tend to score more poorly on tests of memory, attention and other cognitive skills.”

The FCC defends its decision to fine US broadcasters almost $4 million for indecency. “Whenever the commission is trying to determine what is appropriate and inappropriate, there’s inherently lines that end up being drawn. And all of that ends up involving the context of the way particular words are used or not used. This debate is not new.”

Nielsen is figuring out ways to measure ratings for shows on Tivo, on cell phones, on computers. But if one of the big draws to Tivo is being able to skip commercials, what do ratings matter to advertisers?

The movie theatre industry has been promising a switch to digital for years, but it still hasn’t happened. “Digital cinema promises to slash distribution costs associated with shipping heavy tins of 35-mm prints to thousands of theaters worldwide. That will give cinema owners new choices and flexibility in booking movies and other kinds of entertainment content, like live concerts or sporting events. But cinema owners still worry that the digital equipment might require constant upgrades, be more complicated to operate, or break down more often than what they’ve got in their projection booths today.”

The South African movie Tsotsi recently won an Oscar. But back home, a pirated version of the movie features a different ending. “While the theatrical version ends ambiguously, with the fate of the young tsotsi left unknown, the pirated version ends in violence.” The director “believes that the pirated DVD was created from an early, rough version of Tsotsi stolen while the film was being edited. The version lacks sound and technical refinements found in the completed feature.”

The director says “he has tried to portray the reality of crime and therefore chose actors who were familiar with it. ‘If real criminals or people who have had personal experiences with crime and law come forward and act in such a movie, then it is not acting for them, it becomes real. All the characters become themselves in the movie and dialogues will not seem like dialogues but actual conversation’.”

“Major broadcasters are emphasising the need to deliver their content across multiple platforms including conventional television, downloads and streaming services, as well as wireless devices. Based on pilot projects and other small-scale initiatives, it is fair to say that this future is already here.”

“Thousands of amateur video clips, rare footage of music concerts and home-made film spoofs are now being uploaded every day to the video-sharing website YouTube for the enjoyment of millions of web users around the world. Allowing the public to watch and share clips for free, it has become an unprecedented platform for amateur film-makers to show off their home movies. But music labels, film studios and television bosses are now cracking down on the site.”

What has national Public Radio done with its gift of $230 million from Joan Kroc’s estate? For one thing, “NPR has created nearly 70 new jobs in its newsroom, many of them for reporters on newly created beats like police and prisons, labor, international economics, the environment, technology and the media. And all this as other news organizations have been paring their staffs and scaling back their ambitions as consumers and advertisers drift away.”