Category: media

Launched in April 2020, Quibi has raised about $1.75 billion from major studios and other investors and has banked dozens of original series from Hollywood A-listers. The major question is who, exactly, would be interested in acquiring the struggling Quibi venture, given its untested business model and weak subscriber traction to date. – Variety

Maïmouna Doucouré: “Some people have found certain scenes in my film uncomfortable to watch. But if one really listens to 11-year-old girls, their lives are uncomfortable. We, as adults, have not given children the tools to grow up healthy in our society. I wanted to open people’s eyes to what’s truly happening in schools and on social media, forcing them to confront images of young girls made up, dressed up and dancing suggestively to imitate their favorite pop icon.” – The Washington Post

The pact between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (the studios) and the unions IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, DGA, Basic Crafts, and the Teamsters includes mandatory testing protocols and other safety measures as well as arrangements for paid sick leave and quarantine pay. – Variety

That’s partly because of the presenters. “Essential workers, including a USPS delivery person, a rancher, two doctors, a teacher, a truck driver and a nurse practitioner, served as presenters. But before introducing categories such as supporting drama and comedy actor, they spoke about what they’ve been doing in their respective jobs to keep the country running during the COVID-19 pandemic.” – Los Angeles Times

Nomadland also won the Golden Lion in Venice, making it the first (and, so far, only) film to win both the Lion and the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. “In a plea to the audiences who had watched Nomadland remotely and at a drive-in screening, [the director] added, ‘Please, please keep going because we cannot do this without you. We’re so grateful and we hope we’ll see you all down the road.'” – Variety

And the realities, too. “That kind of convenience, of course, comes at a price, especially in an artistic medium that always works best when it achieves your wholehearted surrender. And by surrender I mean actively putting aside your convenience, putting aside your phone, your work, your tiredness, your phone, your competing thoughts, your other appointments, your phone. I saw some very fine TIFF movies this year, though even the best ones left me wondering how much better I’d have liked them if I’d seen them as they were meant to be seen, on an enormous glowing screen in a crowded (and coronavirus-free) theater.” – Los Angeles Times

The Creative Arts Emmys wrapped with an awards snafu after five nights of awards, but Primetime Emmys are coming to the screen, or screens, on Sunday night. Picture 130 video feeds at once, many of them operated remotely or by the nominees. “It’s honestly pretty nifty, but it contains the potential for so, so much chaos.” – Vox