Category: media

The “West Wing” surprises many and wins another Emmy for Best TV drama. “The ceremony was both celebratory and bittersweet, with homage paid to a number of performers and industry figures who died this year, including Bob Hope, John Ritter, Gregory Hines and Fred Rogers.”

The fight over how many separate media voices a single company should be allowed to own is not only an American issue. In Britain, two of the nation’s four broadcast networks are now owned by American media tycoons, a situation made possible by a change in the law governing foreign-owned television franchises. The general director of the BBC is still furious over the decision to allow American businessmen to control British programming, and he warns that new media legislation passed this summer will only further U.S. dominance of English culture.

Regal Cinemas, the largest chain of multiplexes in the U.S., has announced that it will henceforth ban certain video games from its lobby arcades. Games which show human dismemberment, for instance, are gone. So are games which include nudity, sex, or “violence towards law enforcement officers or figures of authority.” So if you want to see any of those inappropriate things at a Regal multiplex… well, you’ll just have to buy a ticket and walk into one of the theatres.

How to improve Egypt’s image in America? How about Sylvester Stallone in an action series? No kidding: “It’s going to be a suspense series, there will be crime shows, and recovery of lost artifacts, kidnaps and retrieval, action and adventures where good triumphs over evil,” Stallone said, suggesting it would bridge the gap between Americans and Arabs that has widened since 9/11. “I think people are scared of what they don’t know, so the more you expose the different cultures to one another, you are going to see that they love their families, they go to work, they do the same things as us and right away you start to listen, and I think that’s very important.”

The London film industry has had a couple of down years. But 2003 looks to be a record year. “Now experts reveal income from the industry this year will top $1 billion (£623 million), smashing the 2000 record. Britain’s studios are running at full capacity after two difficult years, with a string of high-profile Hollywood and domestic projects in production.”

The BBC’s charter is up for renewal in 2006, and the British government is in a mood to examine the value of the public broadcaster. “We need to ask ourselves what we want and expect the BBC to deliver; what range and scale of services it should provide; how it should be positioned in relation to the market; how it should be funded and regulated; and whether it delivers good value for money.”

Government review of the BBC signals that major change is on the way. “Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, yesterday signalled the start of a ‘root and branch’ review of the BBC’s purpose and funding with a guarantee that its independence from government would be preserved. But she gave a stern warning that the BBC cannot expect to continue in its present form when its royal charter is renewed in 2006.”

Rex Reed’s had it up to here with film festivals. “It used to be called entertainment—an element so sadly missing from film festivals that you couldn’t spot it with a telescope on loan from the Hayden Planetarium. This, according to hard-core festival mavens, is as it should be. You go to Cannes or Berlin or Toronto, they remind you, to see innovative visions of the world you will never see again, not the standard Hollywood fare coming soon to a shopping mall nearby. I’ll buy that, but doesn’t anybody have any fun anymore?”

The coalition opposing Michael Powell and the FCC’s new relaxation of media ownership rules is as broad as any issue’s ever seen in Washington. Yet despite a Senate vote to block the new rules and wide opposition, Powell is still intent on pushing ahead. But the battle’s not over yet…

For decades, Disney ruled the animated roost, cranking out blockbuster after cartoon blockbuster, and employing the top animators in the world. These days, the digital pioneers at Pixar have taken up the Disney mantle and are advancing the medium at an astonishing rate. But what these two giants of the animated film have in common is the California Institute of the Arts, which has consistently turned out students who have a passion for animating, and the techinical knowledge to have a profound impact on the industry.