Category: media

The internet has emerged as an important force in the indie film industry. “The emergence of virtual film festivals and the continued presence of veteran Web sites such as iFilm and AtomShockwave’s AtomFilms has made the world of indie filmmaking more accessible to the technologically savvy and has given aspiring writers, directors, producers and actors a new means of making connections. What the Internet has done for filmmakers is to lower the point of entry.”

Dallas public broadcasting company announced it will sell a station. “Broadcasting deals announced Monday would replace one of Dallas’ two public broadcasting stations with a religious channel and add a Spanish-language station to the area’s growing roster.”

Are fewer features films being made in Australia? Yes, says the Australian Film Commission’s chief executive. And the reason is lack of funding – both private and government. “There’s less money to make them. The funding that’s available through either direct or indirect government support is less than what it has been in the past.”

There was a time when Boston TV stations each had arts reporters (or entertainment reporters, at least). But the stations have one by one eliminated the jobs. One explanation: “They have access to so many syndicated sources for entertainment stories, movie reviews and the like, that having a local arts reporter becomes redundant.”

Are female radio hosts discriminated against in Australia? Women in broadcasting say their gender plays a factor in how well they are received by audiences…

The reality TV phenomenon was a bad idea from the start. And there are signs it is fading in the ratings. But a program scheduled for the fall just might be one of the dumbest yet. “As we speak, producers for a Pepsi-sponsored WB Network contest are telling animal trainers what they want from potential candidates for a mid-September sweepstakes show. The chimp is supposed to pick the $1billion winner.”

This past season saw a record number of African-American and Latino actors cast in US TV and movie roles. “Along with Asian-Pacific islanders and native Americans, they accounted for almost a quarter of all theatrical and TV roles – up 2.1% on 2001, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) said. Black actors accounted for 15.5% of all roles – exceeding the black population of the US which stands at nearly 13%. Latinos, who account for 13.6% of the population, were cast in 6% of roles, particularly TV series.”

“Two years less a month after the devastations of 9/11, an event that sparked flag-waving and brought the U.S. international sympathy not seen since World War II, the movies are getting back to the business of questioning American authority…”

In a recent article in The Atlantic, David Brooks pointed out the hypocritical tendency of Americans to pay lip service to the ideal of ‘diversity’ from inside the safety of our completely homogenous self-styled social circles. That type of human narrowness is hardly news to the TV industry, which has been increasingly focused on the splintering of the American audience. ‘Niche programming’ is truly the wave of the future, and where once a network had to appeal to a broad cross-section of the country to be successful, today’s strategy is to group viewers into tiny genre boxes, where they can be easily catered to by programmers and, more importantly, advertisers.

Making a short film is hardly a quick, low-cost enterprise. But for countless young filmmakers, the short is a chance to learn the craft, to get a toehold in an industry notorious for high costs and fickle moneymen. Unfortunately, once a short does get made, usually on the strength of donated equipment, actors working for nothing, and sets designed and built by the director and her friends, there’s still little chance that anyone will see it, or pay attention to it. Tani Hansen knows the frustrations firsthand, and wonders if the form itself isn’t on the way to the dustbin of film history.