This early promise of a more equitable industry didn’t last. Once the studio system kicked into gear, women were largely muscled out of positions of authority. There are exploding opportunities for women in TV and streaming today, but film writing and directing are still overwhelmingly dominated by men, and white men at that. – Variety
Category: media
The Evolution Of The Quizbowl, From Radio To Screen To Zoom
“Technology and trivia may not be obvious bedfellows. But trivia enthusiasts in the postwar-trivia boom of the 1950s would surely look in envy at technologies we take for granted today: word processors, search engines, wikis, videoconferencing services. In today’s Tedium, I take you through the technological evolution of a trivia format called quizbowl.” – Tedium
Radio Listenership Has Plunged. But NPR’s Listenership Is Up Ten Percent. Why?
Even as its legacy platform’s audience has declined, though, NPR says it is reaching more people than ever. The dip in radio listenership — 22 percent — has coincided with a record number of people turning to NPR on virtually every other platform. More people than ever are reaching NPR through the website, apps, livestreams, and smart speakers (“Alexa, I want to listen to NPR”). – NiemanLab
Judge Raises Amount Tavis Smiley Must Pay PBS To $2.6 Million
In late 2017, PBS suspended Smiley’s late-night talk show following sexual harassment allegations from staffers. Smiley sued the network, which countersued, and in March 2020, a jury awarded PBS $1.7 million. But PBS argued that Smiley should pay additional money pursuant to his contract’s morals clause. The judge has agreed, and has, in effect, ordered Smiley to pay back the network and the show’s underwriters for the last two seasons. – Variety
Four Indiana Cities Sue Netflix For “Cable-Franchise” Fees
The lawsuit was filed against Netflix, Disney, Hulu, DirecTV, and Dish Network on August 4 in Indiana Commercial Court in Marion County. The cities of Indianapolis, Evansville, Valparaiso, and Fishers want the companies to pay the cable-franchise fees established in Indiana’s Video Service Franchises (VSF) Act, which requires payments of 5 percent of gross revenue in each city. – ArsTechnica
A TV Critic On The Virtual Democratic Convention’s Opening Night
James Poniewozik: “At its shakiest, it was, like much pandemic-era TV, uncanny, disjointed and unsettlingly weird. (To its credit, though, there were few of the glitches that have riddled so much bandwidth-dependent live television.) At its most engaging, it dispensed with some relics of televised conventions and found faster-paced and more intimate alternatives.” – The New York Times
In The Digital Age What Does It Mean To “Withdraw” Problematic Content?
Rarely discussed is what “pulling” something actually entails in the digital production age, when film or tape hard copies rarely exist, as well as what the risks are of losing some content forever. Then there is the ethical dimension: While it’s natural for creators and corporations to want to distance themselves from offensive episodes, is the best approach really to erase history, rather than put it in context? – The New York Times
Alan Alda’s Hawkeye Is A Flawed Hero With Something To Teach Us Now
In 2020, some things to remember about M.A.S.H., and especially Hawkeye: “Hawkeye taught us that when your world is disintegrating, it is not only possible but utterly necessary to crack a joke — to create a counterpoint to what would otherwise be overwhelming. In his oscillations between laughter and gut-wrenching anguish, I recognized a shadow version of myself.” – Los Angeles Times
The Studio Behind This Year’s Oscar-Winning Animated Short Are Trying To School Hollywood
Lion Forge is a Black-owned animation studio, the only Black-owned animation studio. For founders and staff, that makes its mission different. “It’s representation on the screen. It’s representation on the producing side of things. But then also, and I think what’s always missed, is, there needs to be representation in the executive teams that have the power to be able to push the content through.” – FastCompany
Reshooting A Zombie Movie During A Pandemic Isn’t Actually That Easy
Comedian Tig Notaro is replacing disgraced actor Chris D’Elia in Army of the Dead, but how exactly does that play out during quarantine? It doesn’t. “The film will mix full reshoots of Notaro acting opposite a partner and solo shoots of her using a green screen and CGI to incorporate her into the existing film. Production will commence as soon as it’s safe to do so.” – Los Angeles Times