Basically, AMC is creating a breeding ground for viral spreading (and not the good kind of viral): “Look, no one wants to get back in a movie theater more than I do — well, OK, my 13-year-old may want it a bit more — but I don’t think a marketing stunt that appears to be an attempt to lure people into theaters with financial incentives is the best decision ever made.” – Los Angeles Times
Category: media
The Superheroes We Have, The Superheroes We Need
Thinking about what we’ve had – Batman, Superman – well, it’s time for a change. “A new guard of superheroism doesn’t simply mean diversity. It makes room for the possibility that especially now, as our political systems and institutions are being questioned, there is no absolute moral authority, even for those tasked with saving the day.” – The New York Times
The Pain And Dedication Of Being A Reality Show Camera Operator
The camera operators’ job applications asked them to list their skills at things like mountain biking, river rafting, and hiking. Those aren’t on the skillsheets for a lot of camera operators, but “‘I wish every job application was like that, because that’s all the stuff I love to do,’ said camera operator Kathryn Barrows, 43. ‘I felt like this is the show I’ve been waiting my whole life to shoot.'” – Los Angeles Times
A Storied Hollywood Research Library – And It Needs A Home
Its roots go back to the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, established in 1919 on a corner of Formosa Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Renamed United Artists Studio in the 1920s, the Lot, as it came to be known, eventually became the site of Samuel Goldwyn Studios. In 1961, Lillian Michelson, wife of renowned storyboard artist Howard Michelson, became a volunteer there, and eight years later, she made the library her own. – Los Angeles Times
The Memorabilia King Vs. The Studio Detective: The Never-Before-Told Account Of An Epic Battle Over Stolen Movie Props
“Today, the pop-culture collectibles market grabs headlines and brings in between $200 million and $400 million in annual sales. … But back [in the ’90s], entertainment memorabilia was still a small-time game, with studios only starting to think about their productions’ physical assets as valuable brand-building artifacts rather than garbage fetishized by marginal eccentrics. [David] Elkouby’s strange saga — untold until now — marked a key turning point in that industry evolution.” – The Hollywood Reporter
AMC Is Opening Movie Theatres Next Week – Admission 15 Cents
For one day only, tickets at the theaters will sell for 15 cents, roughly the equivalent of what it cost to watch a movie in 1920. That’s the year that the company’s founders, the Dubinsky Brothers, began operations with a single movie screen in Kansas City, Missouri. – Variety
Hollywood Movie Production Restarts (But Not In Hollywood)
Hollywood has been unable to restart production on its own soundstages in California because of surging infections in the state, plodding negotiations with unions over protocols and the time it takes to get test results. So big movie studios, under pressure to get their production assembly lines running again, have focused on overseas shooting. The “Avatar” sequels are filming again in New Zealand. Sony Pictures has “Uncharted,” its adaptation of a popular video game, going in Berlin. – The New York Times
AMC Says It Will Open Its Movie Theatres Next Week
Starting August 20th, AMC plans to have more than 100 theaters open, and it says it will continue opening locations “such that about two-thirds of our theatres across the country should be open no later than September 3.” – The Verge
How A Turkish Historical Drama Became ‘The Muslim ‘Game Of Thrones”
Ertuğrul, a five-season dizi (that’s Turkish for telenovela-crossed-with-historical-epic) about the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, “is now so popular that it has been dubbed into six languages and broadcast in 72 countries. On YouTube alone, Ertuğrul has surpassed 1.5bn views.” – The Guardian
Antitrust Rules Against Studios Owning Movie Theaters Struck Down (Will That Save The Theaters?)
Known as the Paramount Consent Degrees, the regulations followed from a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ordering Hollywood studios to sell off their national cinema chains; a US District Court judge has ruled that the current distribution landscape, including streaming, means those rules are no longer necessary. With chains reeling from the coronavirus lockdown (and AMC in particular facing bankruptcy), maybe Amazon and Netflix should just buy themselves chains? (Disney, no doubt, will.) – Wired