Category: media

“A film festival sounds vaguely intellectual, an oasis of cinematic contemplation in the midst of the crass commercial marketplace. But a film festival is an aberration; people don’t need further encouragement to go to the movies. When the most misguided Hollywood remake of a half-remembered TV show can make $10 million in its opening weekend, it could even be argued that people go to the movies too much. There are few good reasons for film festivals to exist, and yet they proliferate like cancer clusters across the country.”

A new poll says that 73 percent of those asked prefer to see movies in their home on DVD or videocassette rather than in the theatre. “The same poll found that only 22 per cent of people preferred to see movies the old-fashioned way – in a movie theatre. The numbers may provide fodder for those who believe the proliferation of at-home entertainment technologies is permanently changing moviegoing patterns.”

“A team of students from Carnegie Mellon University have developed Roadcasting, a collaborative, mobile radio system that will allow car drivers and anyone else with a computer, a wireless connection and digital music files to not only broadcast their own station, but influence the play lists of other Roadcasting DJs transmitting in the area.”

An attempt to bring the BBC under judicial review for defamation of Christianity has been blocked by the British courts. The case arose from the protests staged after the BBC announced plans to televise a performance of the popular show, Jerry Springer: The Opera, which includes hundreds of swear words and a scene in which God, Mary, and Jesus are guests on a talk show in hell. The request for judicial review was turned down flat by the UK’s High Court.

“Investigators at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are examining $15,000 in payments to two Republican lobbyists last year that were not disclosed to the corporation’s board.”

Call it a gimmick, call it a waste of resources, but there’s no question that the 48-Hour Toronto Film Challenge, which dares amateurs to put together a short flick featuring several mystery elements in only two days, is a hell of a good time for those involved. Unless, of course, you miss the deadline by five minutes…

Following the recently announced merger of Canadian cinema chains Cineplex Galaxy and Famous Players, 63% of Canada’s movie screens will be controlled by a single company, an unheard-of situation for a country that fanatically protects its native culture against incursions from Hollywood. But behind the deal is a single individual, 51-year-old immigrant Ellis Jacob, who has quietly risen through the ranks to become a major player on the international film scene. Jacob points out that while the merged company might resemble an American-style corporate monolith, it will also represent the first time that a majority of Canadian movie screens have been controlled by a Canadian company.

“Facing charges of political bias and a threat to its funding from Congress, the Public Broadcasting Service yesterday adopted an updated set of editorial standards and announced that it would add an ombudsman who will report directly to PBS President Pat Mitchell. The action comes in the wake of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s hiring of two ombudsmen in April,” a move which has been widely criticized as being politically motivated.

A few years ago Clear Channel was buying up thousands of American radio stations, becoming the giant of the business. But now it’s splitting off some of its enterprises as the aggressive growth backfired. “In the past year alone, its stock is off 25%, to about $29, even after the company bought back about 10% of outstanding shares starting in April, 2004. That’s a steep drop from about $80 a share at its buying peak in 2000. The formerly cocksure Clear Channel is a humbled enterprise.”

Traditional radio is facing challenges. Perhaps a solution to some of them might be high definition broadcasting. “More than 370 radio stations are now broadcasting in high definition, a digital format that boosts audio quality and limits static. A handful have begun experimenting with digital “multicasting,” which allows broadcasters to spawn inexpensive sister stations and could give traditional radio a fighting chance against the pumped-up variety of satellite and internet competitors.”