Category: media

An environmental group in Thailand has sued 20th Century Fox for the ecological damage incurred on Phi Phi island during the filming of the Leonardo DiCaprio film “The Beach.” Nonetheless, “DiCaprio has repeatedly defended the use of the Thai island. The ‘Titanic’ star has also insisted that producers improved Maya beach and said the movie would boost tourism.” – The Age (Melbourne) 07/06/00

In recent years, the entertainment business has been all about consolidation. “Zero score and seven years ago, in fact, the Federal Communications Commission brought forth a new TV business, one dedicated to the pursuit of bigness and consolidation at any price” Now, a few independents are beginning to strike back. – Los Angeles Times 07/04/00

Just why are so many millions of people fascinated with the reality shows “Survivor” and “Big Brother”? Daniel Boorstin may have predicted the reason some 40 years ago. “Attributing the blurring of news and pseudo news to a combination of technical virtuosity and audience democratization, he wrote: ‘The image, more interesting than its original, has become the original. The shadow has become the substance.’ Images, synthetic and simplistic yet vivid and believable, have become the nation’s measure of what is real. – New York Times 07/04/00

“Founded last year by Caroline Baron, a film producer, Filmaid’s mission is to bring feature films, children’s cartoons and other screen entertainment to refugee camps, where the horrors of war are often succeeded by bad memories, isolation and tedium.” – New York Times 07/04/00

“This is a record-breaking year for Hollywood films shot in Canada, entertainment-industry figures on both sides of the border agree. In past years, U.S. producers have taken advantage of the weak dollar to shoot low-budget feature films and made-for-TV movies in Canadian cities. This year, though, the studios have brought their big projects north and a long list of marquee-topping stars such as Sean Connery, Christina Ricci and Robert de Niro.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada) 07/03/00

Indian movies are being taken more seriously internationally than ever before, and are carving out a wider non-Indian audience. “The fact that Hindi films are appearing more often on the UK and US charts and the regular stage shows have made the world sit up and take notice.” – Times of India 06/30/00

“Every summer, the major Hollywood studios unleash their biggest, loudest and most expensive and star-studded films into a world of vacationing families and entertainment-hungry teenagers. Have sequel, will travel. But off to the side, clustered together, are a growing number of smaller, less heralded movies – independent features, foreign films, this year’s quirky Shakespeare adaptations – that somehow find themselves battling it out in the nation’s theaters with the big Hollywood quarterbacks. Have subtitles, will travel.” – New York Times 06/30/00

• Minnesota Public Radio has been moving into Southern California, taking over the public station in Pasadena, with plans to remake it into a dynamo news operation.  “What we’re interested in is content. And here you have a city where there’s no L.A.-based radio being produced for [a nationwide] public radio [audience], and we see that as a huge opportunity for us.” – New Times LA 06/29/00

This summer’s movie season began so well – the “Mission Impossible” sequel raked in the bucks, and the schedule was full of promise. Then: “the horizon darkened. The engine began to make a funny pinging sound. Slowly, silently, the air went out of the tires. And the summer movie season of 2000 began to sink into the doldrums — at least compared with last year’s.” – New York Times 06/29/00 

Some movie producers in Los Angeles had an idea – they would set up a website and auction off roles in their next movie project. But California authorities have ordered the site shut down because it violates state laws forbidding job applicants to pay for positions. – BBC 06/29/00

• BIDDING FOR WORK: “The project, called ‘Who Wants to Be a Movie Star?’ was designed to sell off speaking roles and behind-the-scenes jobs for a specific, yet-unnamed film project to the highest online bidders.” – Backstage 06/29/00