Category: media

The Toronto International Film Festival is hoping to complete construction of a new CAN$200 million film center by 2007. But so far, the project has been a tough sell to private donors and corporate interests, and little of the $115 million in private money necessary for construction has been raised. TIFF is actively seeking a keystone donor who could contribute as much as $30 million to kickstart the project.

A documentary film investigating a notorious event in which an art student killed, cooked, and ate a cat on camera in the name of artistic expression has provoked a steady stream of angry e-mails and phone calls ever since the Toronto International Film Festival programmed it as part of its Real to Reel program. But according to TIFF organizers, the protesters have now crossed the line, with one festival programmer receiving a vicious death threat on his cell phone this week. Toronto police are now actively pursuing the caller, and the festival insists that the film will go on as scheduled.

A few summer blockbusters did their studios proud, but most of this summer’s crop of Hollywood films did little to attract an audience of the size the industry expects during the hot months. “The number of people going to the movies in the summer has declined 4.4 percent in the last two years. The last time attendance declined in consecutive summers was in 1995, ’96 and ’97.”

The Venice Film Festival opens this week with a definite American accent. “At this year’s festival, the 61st, there are a score of American films in various categories, only a couple fewer than those made in Italy. Three films from each country have made it into competition…”

Video games are hugely popular – it’s not difficult to see a day coming when they’ll be our most popular form of entertainment. Why? “I submit that it’s more fun to do stuff than to watch stuff. It’s one of the reasons movies about hot video games rarely do much at the box office: I’d rather help Lara Croft outwit enemies and cheat death in the “Tomb Raider” series than watch Angelina Jolie dodge special effects onscreen — even an augmented Angelina Jolie. Video gaming is to moviegoing as writing a book is to reading one: You are in control.”

“Israel’s film board banned Jenin, Jenin from being shown in the Jewish state last year, saying it presented a distorted version of events in Jenin. But on Monday Israel’s High Court reinstated a ruling which overturned the ban, saying the film board did not have ‘a monopoly over truth’.”

New BBC chairman Mark Thompson says the BBC is to undego a “significant change of direction”, moving away from reality and lifestyle shows in a drive for excellence. “Excellence is above all what audiences expect the BBC to strive for – and because of the licence fee and because the BBC doesn’t face the same commercial pressures as our competitors, they expect us to strive for it with more conviction and consistency than anyone else.”

It’s the first wireless phone film festival. “To be sure, it’s not very likely that the wireless device in your pocket will be showing something along the lines of Gone With the Wind anytime soon. But there’s a good chance participating artists will turn in some sophisticated work, especially those who understand how to think small.”

Feeling they’ve been burned by technology, the entertainment industry is moving aggressively to block new technologies that could potentially impact their business. “The U.S. movie industry generated $41.2 billion in revenue last year, but estimated it lost $3.5 billion in potential revenue due to piracy of DVDs and videos. The industry has not been able to estimate revenue lost from Internet piracy. The recording industry has blamed online file-sharing as a major reason for a decline in sales from $14.3 billion in 2000 to $11.8 billion in 2003.”

“Public television — home of Big Bird, “Frontline,” and Jim Lehrer — has traditionally been a lightning rod for conservative complaints about liberal bias. But these days it is the left that is unhappy with the programming mix and fretting about a right-wing conspiracy.”