Category: media

“The Canadian writer-director of a controversial film about Turkey’s historical genocide says he’s surprised a country that seemed so committed to starting a dialogue about its painful past has postponed screening the film amid fears of attacks. Atom Egoyan, whose award-winning film Ararat was scheduled to begin showing in Turkey on January 16, said he’s still waiting to hear more details from the Turkish film distributor about why its screening was scuttled… The Armenian National Committee of Canada said the film distributor, Istanbul-based Belge Films, pulled the film’s release after receiving threats from Ulku Ocaklari, a group with ties to the Grey Wolves, a nationalist paramilitary group, as well as the Turkish military and intelligence units.”

“With the courts making it harder for the music industry to battle online piracy through lawsuits, you might think that the major record labels would be ready to cut deals with the leading file-sharing networks, transforming them from hotbeds of illegality into revenue-generating partners. Think again. Despite a recent survey that reported the percentage of Americans who download music online has been sliced in half, the gulf between the labels and the companies behind Kazaa, Blubster and other file-sharing networks seems as wide — and impossible to bridge — as ever. Not only are significant business and legal hurdles in the way, but there’s also an ocean of bad blood between the two sides.”

In what is being touted as the biggest technological advance in the radio industry since the FM band made its debut, stations around the U.S. are preparing to begin broadcasting digital signals in addition to their standard analog transmissions. The new technology will allow radio stations to broadcast CD-quality sound, include text with the music, and even to broadcast more than one program on the same frequency. Consumers will need a digital receiver to pick up the new transmissions, and currently, only one station (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,) has begun digital broadcasting, but industry observers are expecting digital to become the new standard within the next decade.

The Broadway hit The Producers is adapted from a 60s movie. Now the stage update is being adapted further…as another movie. The movie will star Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, the thea production’s original stars.

The head of the Writer’s Guild of America has resigned after a 13-hour meeting with the union’s board of directors. “The upheaval at the union comes on the eve of critical negotiations with Hollywood studios and television networks over a new three-year contract on conditions for entertainment industry writers. The current contract expires in May.”

“Terrorist-style threats in Turkey are preventing people there from seeing Atom Egoyan’s Ararat and learning the truth about the country’s violent past, the Armenian National Committee of Canada says.”

More than 25 movies grossed more than $100 million at the box office in 2003. A hundred mil is the traditional mark for declaring a film a blockbuster. But some of these “blockbusters” didn’t even recoup their production costs. “Many analysts and even studio executives say that it’s time to redefine the term “blockbuster” — or throw it out. Some argue that the label should be reserved for movies that take in $200 million because that remains rarefied air: Six movies topped that mark in 2003.”

“Although Imax has reigned supreme as the biggest, clearest, most spectacular cinema format available, it is in danger of going the way of the dinosaurs. Like the prehistoric reptiles its movies so often feature, Imax’s size is its chief asset and its chief liability.”

Hollywood didn’t have as good a year as it had hoped for in 2003. “When adjusted for inflation, admissions appear to be down as much as 4 percent this year for 2003, and domestic box office revenue is down for the first time in more than a decade. The domestic box office gross for 2003 is expected to be about $8.9 billion, compared with last year’s 2002’s record-breaking $9.3 billion.”

“This year looks set to be a bumper year for foreign film production in the UK. According to the Film Council, investment over the previous 12 months has topped £900m, beating the previous annus mirabilis of 2000. But a boom time for British-based film-making does not necessarily mean a boom time for British film. Many homegrown productions, forced out by the new arrivals, have begun migrating to cheaper locations in eastern Europe. Last year was the first time that the number of international co-productions shot in the UK (43) edged ahead of pureblood British movies (just 42). There are two reasons for this Hollywood influx.”