A list, as chosen by American Film Institute voters. “Annie Hall”? Really? – Dallas Morning News 06/14/00
Bill Moyers tells the PBS annual meeting: “What we do is good. It’s just not enough. We need to respond more to the needs of America as a democratic society, not just a consumer market. We need more hard-hitting public affairs programming on controversial issues. We’re good, but we’re bland.” – Los Angeles Times 06/14/00
Computer-generated animation has become increasingly central to filmmaking in recent years – and cheaper, faster digital technology techniques are now making it easier for animation artists to create lifelike three-dimensional worlds on film. – New York Times 06/13/00
New Zealand’s Maori tribes are trying to stop an upcoming government auction of the radio spectrum. “The Maori argued that ownership of the spectrum was their right as granted under the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. The Treaty, signed in 1840 by Maori and the British government, promises to protect taonga, the Maori term for resources considered valuable by New Zealand’s indigenous people. At the time of the Treaty signing, such resources included land, forests and fisheries. Maori believe the concept of taonga also extends to radio spectrum.” – Wired 06/13/00
Advertising money is coming in so fast to the cable networks, execs can hardly believe their eyes. Cable ad revenues will soar by 22%, from $8.3 billion in 1999 to $10.2 billion in 2000. Will we see some of that money in better programming? – Variety 06/13/00
“Despite the ad industry’s claim of ‘business as usual,’ it’s not. Agencies are struggling to find the talent they need, and it’s getting more difficult to produce commercials. Some are scouting multiple locations to throw picket organizers off and, fearing demonstrations in New York and Los Angeles, taking their jobs to smaller U.S. cities. Others are simply taking their work out of the country.” – Adweek
MAYBE MOVEMENT? Nine hours of negotiations Tuesday hold some hope in strike. – Variety
The mob is moving in on Bollywood, so some of India’s biggest film producers are leaving the country to shoot their projects in Britain. – Times of India 06/12/00
For the first time in its history, PBS is being run by a programmer. And big changes are coming to the way the public broadcaster does business, with an emphasis on gaining viewers. “Ultimately, more viewers and more time spent viewing by current viewers will translate into more viewer financial contributions, PBS hopes, and higher ratings nationally should make it easier to find corporate underwriting support.” – Los Angeles Times 06/12/00
Arguably, the motion picture industry should never have allowed DVDs to see the light of day – they can be too easily copied. Yet they did, and predictably, hackers are copying away, and, just as predictably, the movie makers are suing. A little late though, don’t you think? – *spark-online 06/00
— lays off 13 of its staff and cuts book coverage in half. – Inside.com 06/09/00
