Category: media

A BBC series on Leonardo da Vinci was a lot of sizzle without giving away much about who Leonardo really was. “Ever since the 15th century, it sometimes seems, programme-makers have been trying to fit art on to the small screen. Art is not natural television, as nature is. Few of us are ever likely to see the worlds revealed by the Blue Planet in any other way. We all, however, can go to an art gallery. As for seeing the Mona Lisa, we can hardly avoid it. So a programme about art needs a lot of insight and originality.”

Warner Bros. is so anxious about piracy with “Matrix Reloaded” that security is fierce. “Reporters attending a preview of ‘Reloaded’ on Thursday night at Warner’s Burbank studios were subjected to the kind of high security normally seen at airports, not movie theatres. Journalists were required to present government-issued photo I.D., either a driver’s licence or passport, to the super-serious Warner guards, who ominously resembled evil Agent Smith from the movie. As the scribes entered the theatre, they were told to empty their pockets, so as to prevent anyone from smuggling in a miniature digital video camera.”

So you think the reality shows are going to completely take over the TV landscape? Don’t count on it. “According to a recent Morgan Stanley research report, profits from scripted shows (before syndication) have risen 36 percent over the last five years, to $3 billion this season from $2.2 billion in 1998-99 — and that’s without any new breakout hits. So despite predictions that this fall’s schedule would be flooded with low-cost reality shows, and that writers would find themselves teaching “The Art of Sitcoms” at the Learning Annex, there appear to be at least as many drama and comedy pilots in production as last year.”

The British Film Council has “caused a stir with its announcement that it is paying £12,500 in development readies to young British film-makers on the basis of a Hollywood-style 25-word pitch. Four projects have been chosen to benefit from the public purse.” Twenty-five words? Just how do you go about selling a movie idea in 25 words? Imagine some classic movies pitched in a line or two…

The number of complaints to the BBC doubled last year. “A total of 1,596 complaints were looked into in the year to March, compared with 794 in the previous 12 months. The corporation?s director general, Greg Dyke, claimed this was due to viewers now being able to email their views, rather than a rise in broadcasts prompting complaints.”

Seems like everything’s a sequel these days. “Studios this year are delivering a record 25 sequels or prequels, the big onslaught starting with pre-summer releases of ‘X2: X-Men United’ and ‘The Matrix Reloaded.’ Sequels used to be hasty carbon copies meant to wring out a few more dollars from an earlier success. Studios today have learned that putting more thought and resources into follow-ups can produce franchises with bigger returns.”

“The [Canadian] government plans to restore the $25-million subtracted from the Canadian Television Fund, sources at CBC and CTV say. ‘There will be a fall Canadian TV season after all’ is the way one CBC producer reacted to the unconfirmed news yesterday that the federal government will reverse its position and top up the fund that subsidizes Canadian TV programming to its former level of $100 million annually. The cut had resulted in chaos in producer offices and sparked industry protests as dozens of Canadian TV series and TV movies failed to receive funding grants. CBC and CTV were particularly hard hit.”

The allegations are fairly common these days, but when it’s the New York Times being fingered, everyone is understandably cautious about flinging around ugly words like ‘plagiarism.’ Still, there does seem to be a problem with a story the Times published recently about a Texas woman whose son is missing in action in Iraq. Many of the details of the Times story are identical or strikingly similar to details which appeared in a San Antonio paper days earlier. The Times says it is investigating internally, and stresses that it does not tolerate plagiarism in any form.

“It’s shaping up to be a hard summer for Toronto’s $3-billion film and television industry as at least two Hollywood movies and one series that were to be shot in the Ontario capital have either relocated to other cities or been postponed.” The SARS outbreak has hurt, of course, and the recent CBC funding cuts mean that fewer film and TV shoots are being scheduled overall, but other cities in Canada and the U.S. have learned from Toronto’s example of how to draw Hollywood to their doorstep, and are nabbing some productions right out from under Toronto’s nose.

Sometimes, it seems as if the battle against corporate domination of the media is a futile one, waged by a few hardy souls who simply don’t know when they’re beat. And it may be true that the fight for radio as a useful public medium (as opposed to a cash cow for giant conglomerates) has already been lost to the likes of Clear Channel and the ex-CEOs currently running the FCC. But to some activists and consumer advocates, the issue is so important that they simply cannot back down, even in the face of almost-certain defeat.