The series L.A.’s Finest (a Bad Boys spinoff) was shooting its first season finale. An executive producer/showrunner and his co-showrunner were watching the outdoor scene on monitors when a stunt car hit a cargo crate – which then rammed into the video tent village, leaving one showrunner with extensive injuries that required amputation. – Los Angeles Times
Category: media
Steven Spielberg Wants Streaming Movies Knocked Out Of Academy Contention
Sure, Netflix’s Roma won three Oscars – or maybe because the film won three Oscars – Spielberg is not OK with streaming films competing with theatrical releases. “Steven feels strongly about the difference between the streaming and theatrical situation.” – Los Angeles Times
How Netflix Uses Social Media To Get Its Shows To The Center Of Popular Culture
The company uses its social and brand editorial department as the engine that keeps Netflix shows and movies at the forefront of the pop-culture conversation. By imbuing its social platforms with the personality of a meme-happy fan who lives for TV and movies (rather than being stunt-driven, deadpan, or, worse, mocking the very audience it seeks), Netflix’s approach goes beyond mere promotion and jumps armpit-deep into participation and collaboration. – Fast Company
Tyler Perry Writes His Farewell Letter To Madea
“I understood very early on that this mostly blue-collar African-American audience was feeling inspired. They were getting answers to a lot of what was going on in our community that no one was talking about. … I could lift them with humor and use that laughter as an anesthetic and talk about really deep, sensitive issues that were destroying so many of us. – The New York Times
A Brief History Of Jesus On The Big Screen
Cinematic depictions of Christ go all the way back to Edison and the Lumière brothers. And they stretch forward from the silents through Cecil B. DeMille to Mel Gibson — and that’s just from Hollywood. And it’s only in Hollywood where Jesus looks like a white movie star. – The Conversation
There’s A Massive Bidding War For TV Showrunners. Blame Netflix
Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, J.J. Abrams and their fellows are now getting nine-figure production deals, with next-rung creators like Mindy Kaling and Seth MacFarlane landing eight figures. Why? First Netflix, and then deep-pocketed Amazon and Apple, are competing with traditional studios to lock down the intellectual property those individuals create and supervise, and there are very few people who can do what they do. – Fast Company
This Made-In-Taiwan Video Game Has Hidden Jokes About China’s President. The Wrong People Found Them
“Devotion, by the Taiwanese indie developer Red Candle Games, was released on 19 February and was initially popular among horror enthusiasts. However, the discovery of a number of hidden jokes” – in particular, a Chinese pun on the names of PRC president Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh – “has ignited a firestorm of online criticism.” Devotion has now been pulled from worldwide distribution. – The Guardian
Brick Flicks: How Lego Created A Blockbuster Movie Franchise
Some of the company’s cinematic success is because, with the films as with the toys, “every new product [is] compatible with every previous one; you could just keep adding more and more to your collection.” And some of it is that the movies incorporate Lego versions of characters from everywhere – Marvel comics, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, even The Simpsons. And other studios are thrilled to let them do it. – 1843 Magazine
BBC And ITV Join Forces To Launch Rival Service To Netflix
“BritBox will mainly feature archive BBC and ITV shows, alongside new British commissions made especially for the service. There were no details on pricing; the announcement said it would be ‘competitive’. … Other broadcasters are expected to join the service later.” – The Guardian
Canadian Comedians Fear Collapse As Canadian Comedy Channel Shifts Focus
The blowback has been brewing online among comedians, many of whom rely heavily on the royalties and exposure provided by the station to make ends meet, says the Canadian Association of Stand-Up Comedians. “For some people, this is their primary source of income,” said Sandra Battaglini, a Toronto comic and head of the two-year-old association. “It’s devastating for people, because these changes have already started happening, and people have stopped being played.” – CBC