Category: media

Disney is negotiating with Miramax head Harvey Weinstein over Weinstein’s departure from the studio. “Weinstein’s status has been thrown into doubt in recent months, with reports increasing that he will leave Miramax behind while brother and fellow co-head Bob Weinstein could hang onto the reins at Miramax’ s genre arm Dimension.” Miramax is having a slow summer, having spent its budget.

A Russian movie is proving an unexpected hit at the box office. “Blood, action and suspense helped “Night Watch” rake in $13 million in the first three weeks after it was released July 8, almost as much as the last “Lord of the Rings” film made in two months in Russia. The previous best-performing Russian film made $3 million.”

The next big thing in video? High-definition DVD’s. “On one side, Sony, along with 12 leading companies in the computer and consumer-electronics industries, is pushing a format called Blu-ray. It has the capacity to hold as much as six times the number of TV shows and movies that a current DVD holds. Blu-ray also promises spellbinding clarity…”

While TV networks “wallow in reality-TV and makeover pablum, the “highbrow” end of the medium—HBO, Showtime, etc.—has remade itself as the natural habitat for drama that’s as inventive and daring as many films. TV’s new artistic credibility is making the small screen an alluring alternative for directors, offering freedom from the stresses of financing and distribution that beset any adventurous filmmaker.”

What, exactly qualifies a movie as an “indie” movie these days? Some indie movies have big stars. Some are being made by big Hollywood studios? “A good number of companies are doing more of these films with an individual voice and an indie feeling.” So what is indie in a fast-changing landscape?

One of the attractions of the “reality TV” genre for programming executives and networks is the comparatively low cost of production. One of the biggest cost savings is that no writers need to be paid, since all the action is unscripted. Or is it? The union that represents Hollywood writers says that reality shows unquestionably “have scripts, called ‘paper cuts’ in the trade. Jokes are penned for hosts, banter for judges. Plot points and narrative arcs are developed. In some cases, lines are fed directly to contestants.” Not surprisingly, the union would like to see someone getting paid for this.

The FCC has responded to complaints from a right-wing watchdog group by ruling that two popular TV shows – Will & Grace and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – did not violate the commission’s decency standards by airing episodes which contained, respectively, simulated lesbian sex and two principal characters (of opposite genders) engaging in sex. Neither program contained any nudity, and the FCC ruled that while sex was clearly shown to be taking place in the Buffy episode, there was “little evidence that the activity depicted was dwelled upon”. The ruling may give broadcasters a guideline for what the FCC will find acceptable in future.

A decade-old London film festival devoted exclusively to short films has begun to have a real impact on the prominence of a frequently neglected corner of the film industry. “When the inaugural festival was held nine years ago, it attracted around 1,000 viewers. This month’s event will screen almost 400 shorts to an estimated total audience of 13,000.”

Television was changed forever when TiVo arrived on the scene. In fact, it’s not going too far to suggest that the digital recorder/on-demand video machine is a bona fide cultural touchstone. But even as TiVo, the concept, continues to captivate the world, TiVo, the company, is floundering in the face of increased competition from other, more flexible, companies.

About a year ago, the people who track TV ratings and the people who pay attention to them sounded the alarm: 18-34-year-old men, the most desirable advertising demographic, had stopped watching television! Millions of ’em! “Commentary abounded that a significant cultural shift had taken place and that a generation of men was steadily quitting television-viewing, forsaking both network and cable programs in favor of video games, DVD’s and the Internet.” Now, the young men are inexplicably back watching the tube. Were the Nielsen ratings wrong? Not according to Nielsen. But several critics of the system say otherwise.