With Canvs Surveys, CBS can now field more open-ended surveys and also expand the set of questions it includes on each one. The tool measures and categorizes consumers’ responses to characters, plot lines and other topics (like related shows), using a standard set of emotional tags such as “love,” “excited,” “bored,” “sad” or “anxious.” – Variety
Category: media
Cinema Has Helped Change Europe, And It Can Do So Again: Agnieszka Holland
The maker of Oscar nominees Angry Harvest, Europa Europa, and In Darkness writes: “We film-makers are faced with the question of whether we can have a real impact on our world and how we go about doing that. If reality looks like bad fiction and if real characters are like caricatures, then our movies have to reinvent reality. In short: we should leave politicians by the wayside and let artists invent the future. Responsibility today means putting our imaginations to work.” – The Guardian
A Survivor Of The Real USSR Looks At The Pseudo-USSR Of ‘DAU’
“Born of infinite resources and expectations and hubris, the project’s formal artistic failure as cinema was as dialectically preordained as was the failed realization of the Soviet Communist utopia. Yet the Soviet-style command economy mobilization of resources needed to forge the institute in Kharkiv and the art installations in Paris succeeded.” – Tablet
After Series Of Flops, Amazon Re-Orients Its Filmmaking Product Line
Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke: “What we struggled with, I think, was putting too much focus on a narrow prestige lane. I don’t think we had diverse-enough points of view in the storytelling.” So, in addition to the “prestige lane,” the company will add “lanes” in erotic thrillers, horror titles, and (later) young-adult movies. – The New York Times
French Court Throws Out Suit To Block Release Of Film About Sexual Abuse By Priest
François Ozon’s By the Grace of God, which just won the jury prize at the Berlin Film Festival, is based on the case of Father Bernard Preynat, who went to court to delay the release of the film until after his trial. A judge has rejected that bid. – The Hollywood Reporter
If Netflix’s Roma Wins Oscars’ Best Picture, It Will Change The Movie Business Forever
If a film primarily distributed online wins, the debate in Hollywood about what constitutes cinema is over. It would strike a blow to the big multiplex chains, which have refused to show “Roma” because Netflix offered them an exclusive play period of only three weeks; three months is the norm. As far as box office figures, Netflix has said the film has appeared in about 250 theaters in the United States since it was released on Nov. 21, but it refuses to disclose ticket sales. A win by “Roma” could embolden old-line studios like Universal and Warner Bros. to shorten their own theatrical “windows.” – The New York Times
Why Is There Such A Misstep-Filled Scramble To Make The Oscars Shorter?
The producer: “There are so many things to balance. Some viewers want to see glamour. You have to pay attention to where there is humor and where there is music. When do we guess that people at home might get up to make popcorn in the kitchen, and what can we have on right after that to bring them back?” – The New York Times
Bollywood Gets Its First Major LGBTQ Film [VIDEO]
The film, with major Bollywood stars in it, centers on the love story between two women, but they’re under pressure to be in opposite-sex marriages. The film’s director, Shelly Chopra Dhar: “The intent for this film was to reach a wider audience, to have everybody understand that love is love, and does not need to be qualified.” – BBC
What The Academy Should Drop From The Live Broadcast: The Shorts
The NYT‘s Carpetbagger: “These categories are an island unto themselves, whereas a nominee from any other race — be it an animated feature or a foreign-language film — can conceivably vie for best picture or at least be eligible for other Oscars. If there are categories that have to go, these three provide the cleanest cut.” – The New York Times
Oops: The Live Oscars Broadcast Will Include Cinematography After All
For the second time, the Academy reversed itself about something it planned to cut from this year’s Oscars broadcast. “The announcement came after an outcry by some of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters, including BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee and Roma director Alfonso Cuarón.” – NPR