Category: media

“Not so long ago, managers existed solely to offer career advice and support to their clients. But when agents began representing more and more talent — most agents’ rosters have swelled to include 30-40 names — the interests of higher-profile stars started to supersede those of clients whose careers needed the most nurturing, and up-and-coming writers, directors and actors turned to managers for assistance.”

“The research firm that conducted the study said that TiVo’s standalone set-top box is failing in two areas: its inability to record two shows simultaneously and to play back shows in high-definition TV quality. This may not sound like a big deal, but after watching ‘Lost’ or ‘The Sopranos’ on HD, there is no going back.”

Movie and TV writers say they’re “being told to write the lines that sell this merchandise and to deftly disguise the sale as a story.” “Recent examples include the regular glowing endorsement of Cisco computer security by the characters in [the] US action TV series 24. The heroes also used a fleet of Ford cars as they battled with terrorists. Filmgoers are regularly exposed to products being worked into movies.”

We’ve been reading that movie box office has been down this year. That’s not quite true. “From January 2005 to September 2005, the movies of the six Hollywood studios earned $4.7 billion compared to $4.5 billion in the same period in 2004. Their share of the American box office rose from 68 percent in 2004 to 75 percent in 2005. The big losers were independent studios who specialize in more adult movies, such as Lions Gate and Newmarket Films, and the so-called “studioless” studios, DreamWorks and MGM, which suffered 40 percent box-office declines.”

“Call it collateral damage in the ongoing war against copyright infringement. Technologies that were designed to combat file sharing and copyright infringement have also limited the average consumer’s ability to make personal copies of legally purchased media.”

“The iPod video player doesn’t matter. Downloading episodes of ‘Lost’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’ to computers barely matters. What does matter is the crack in the traditional television business model. Some networks already have skipped the traditional television model and started shipping shows, some of which are produced for online audiences only, directly to the Web. With the growth of broadband, up from 25.3 million households in 2003 to an estimated 42.3 million this year, watching the shows on computers has become easier.”

“Hollywood writers and actors are calling for a code of conduct to govern a growing trend of hidden advertising in TV shows and films, and they say they will appeal to federal regulators if studios don’t respond. The also want their share of the billions of dollars in advertising revenue generated by what they write and act in, their unions say.”

“The first two “Left Behind” DVD’s have sold a combined six million copies, which represents nearly $100 million in consumer spending, according to DVD Exclusive, a trade journal.” But besides, DVD sales, churches across America, thousands of them, have signe don to show movies…

“At least for the moment, movie stars still serve as the gold standard of modern fame. Indeed, the rise of cheap, interchangeable, mass-produced celebrity may have endowed those whose primary medium is the big screen with a bit of added gravity, renewing their license to be taken (or to take themselves) seriously. Their fame remains a unique form of cultural capital, a resource that can sometimes be converted into influence or power.”

“A typical studio movie costs nearly $100 million: an average of $63.6 million to make and $34.4 million to market. Theater exhibitors – Regal, AMC, Loews, and the like – generally keep 50 percent of their box-office sales, which means that a movie must sell nearly $200 million worth of tickets worldwide to return $100 million to the studio and thus break even in its theatrical release. Since few movies earn that much at the box office, the studios have increasingly relied on the home-video market, where the equation is much more in their favor, to help recover losses and make a profit.”