When Jeffrey Dunn came to Sesame in September 2014 (after a career at Nickelodeon and the company that owns Thomas the Tank Engine), licensing revenue was plummeting and revenue from PBS was covering less than 10% of the TV show’s production costs. Journalist Kerry Hannon reports on how Dunn has turned the company around.
Category: media
For An Eye On The Future, Look At Today’s New Toys
For a glimpse of that future, look to the world’s largest toymaker, Hasbro. The company is showing off its new Iron Man mask this weekend at Toy Fair, which uses augmented reality to stage a battle against Thanos. Slip on Iron Man’s red helmet and gauntlet, set up the three AR markers around the room, and watch Thanos and his armies surround you. The suit is Hasbro’s first foray into augmented reality, but follows the work of companies like Disney, which introduced its Star Wars Jedi Challenges AR experience last year. The consumer appeal of this stuff is obvious: In AR, you’re not playing as Iron Man. You are Iron Man.
BAFTA Winners Are In, And It Looks Like Some Actors Are Cruising To The Oscars
Are best director – Guillermo del Toro – and best picture – in BAFTA’s case, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri – now a lock for the Academy Awards? (Maybe!)
Public Radio Hosts Feel Like Good Friends To Many Listeners, Which Is Why Its Me Too Moments Are So Explosive
It’s not clear yet whether the firings of many reporters and hosts will affect listeners’ willingness to donate money. However: “WNYC held a one-day pledge drive in late December, after Mr. Lopate and Mr. Schwartz were fired, and the station had its hosts address the controversy and promise transparency. The station declined to disclose the full results of that drive, though it said last week that listener donations in December and January were up 11.5 percent from the same period a year before.”
Let’s Talk About That General Character In Black Panther, And What She Means
You might know Danai Gurira as a major character on The Walking Dead or as the playwright of Eclipsed, which starred Lupita Nyong’o and ran on Broadway to much acclaim. In the Marvel movie, she plays the leader of a group of women warriors who protect the king. “When I sat down with [director Ryan] Coogler, what’s so very important to me as an African woman and as a playwright who writes from the African perspective — because of the lack thereof, or the misrepresentation thereof, or the distortion thereof — it was very important that an African narrative is treated with the respect and authenticity.”
‘Black Panther’ Smashes Records And Hollywood Myths This Weekend
Analysts predicted an eye-popping $165 million North American weekend take – and their predictions were promptly dismantled by $218 million in ticket sales in North America alone, and almost $400 million globally. The records are almost too many to name: “Black Panther instantly became the top-grossing film in history by a black director (Ryan Coogler) and featuring a largely black cast. … Theaters scrambled to add show times to accommodate crowds; AMC Southlake 24 in suburban Atlanta squeezed in 84 show times on Friday alone.”
Weinstein Company Fires Its President And COO ‘For Cause’
The company won’t say what the “cause” is against David Glasser, but “Glasser came under fire this week after the New York attorney general’s office sued the studio, alleging civil rights violations.”
Black Panther Didn’t Just Have Special Spaceship And Set And Costume Design, But A Jewelry Designer As Well
Jewelry designer Douriean Fletcher met costume designer Ruth E. Carter by chance, twice – the second time when she was playing an extra and getting a costume fitting on the set of “Roots,” designed by Carter. “‘At first, I didn’t even recognize her,’ Carter said recently. ‘But when I did, I told her to take off her costume and get to work creating pieces on my show.'”
The Violent Movies That We Call “Entertainment” And The Real-Life Mass-Killings We Abhor
Michael Phillips: “Whenever there’s another mass murder in our country, action films become a strange and ghoulish experience, beyond whatever the filmmakers have created for our consumption. There are times when the gun fatalities and revised statistics get to you. They’re too much. Too much. There are times when movie slaughter, and extravagant, adrenaline-pumping shootouts, cannot easily be enjoyed.”
Judge Rules Against News Organizations That Embedded A Pic Of Tom Brady; Huge Implications For Publishers On The Internet
Justin Goldman filed the lawsuit after he snapped an image of New England Patriots quarterback Brady, Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and others on a street in 2016. Shortly thereafter, he uploaded the photo to Snapchat. The photo then went viral, with others uploading it to Twitter. Subsequently, various news organizations embedded the tweets with the image in stories about whether the Celtics would successfully recruit basketball player Kevin Durant, and if Brady would help to seal the deal. Goldman sued some of these news outlets.