Category: media

“Woody Allen’s latest film, A Rainy Day in New York, has been left in limbo after Amazon Studios appeared to shelve it indefinitely. The production company, which was contractually obliged to distribute the film, said on Thursday: ‘No release date has ever been set.'”

The BBC is being accused of ableism after casting Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton to play Joseph Merrick in its upcoming adaptation of The Elephant Man. Merrick — who had severe facial and body disfigurements thought to be a result of Proteus syndrome — died in 1890 at age 27. Though the Londoner has previously been portrayed by able-bodied actors like John Hurt and Bradley Cooper, Heaton’s casting has been [criticized by disability advocates and actors].”

Using funding from a combination of corporate donors, industry donors and public donations, TIFF offered almost 100 of the critics hotel accommodations for four nights during the festival and a reimbursement of their flight costs to get to Toronto. TIFF is also encouraging press to sign up for the Time’s Up Critical database, which aims to create greater diversity among critics and entertainment reporters. The initiative stems from the Time’s Up movement.

From the paper’s editor: “Louisville’s arts scene also means big bucks. It’s estimated our A&E ‘industry’ has an economic ripple effect in the region of more than $450 million, providing jobs to thousands — from bartenders and waiters to parking garage operators, musicians and the performers themselves.” This after laying off the paper’s longtime arts writer last year.

What’s a deepfake video? It uses the type of artificial intelligence system known as a “deep neural network” to study a large body of images of an individual and then synthesize new moving images based on the existing ones – in other words, to create video of that individual doing something she never actually did. Inevitably, deepfake videos of political candidates will appear, possibly as soon as this fall. How can we spot them? Prof. Siwei Lyu and two colleagues have worked out a way. (The headline above is not metaphorical.)

The biggest difference, says the co-chief critic of The New York Times, is the timing of writing and publishing reviews (with an obsession with spoilers as a consequence). What hasn’t changed? “I still go to screenings!”

Joana Vicente has impeccable credentials in the business side of the filmmaking business. As head of Independent Filmmaker Project, the largest and oldest not-for-profit body dedicated to the development, production and promotion of indie features and documentaries, Vicente helped grow IFP from a $1.9-million annual operation into a $9.7-million one, with 22 full-time employees. TIFF represents a major jump: it’s a $43-million annual operation with 205 full-time staffers.

“The Tomatometer score is the percentage of the reviews that have been positive, supposedly reflecting the ‘collective opinion’ of critics, but critics have so far been limited to those who write for established publications, a group that, according to numerous studies, is heavily slanted toward critics who are white and male. Reviews from established publications will still be included automatically, regardless of who wrote them, but the new rules allow for the inclusion of individual critics, regardless of where they publish.”