“A startling number of big-budget movies bombed in 2015, proving that no amount of marketing can pull audiences into theaters at a time when Netflix queues are long and social media spreads word about a stinker in a heartbeat.”
Category: media
When Journalism Catches Hollywood’s Eye, Hollywood Needs To Do More Reporting
“It seems inevitable that filmmakers will continue to make movies about journalists, especially if ‘Truth’ and ‘Spotlight’ receive Oscar nominations. And dramatic license is something journalists will have to get used to, if they’re not already. The real question is whether the movies will ever truly understand the difference between good reporting and bad, as Mr. McCarthy did and Mr. Vanderbilt did not. Don’t get your hopes up. It’s the movies after all.”
What Does A Casting Director Do?
“We look for somebody who can elevate the material, which is very important when you’re looking at so many actors for a specific role. Particularly in pilot season. There are times when we see hundreds of actors for one role. It’s quite often the people who get down to the wire are the ones who can elevate the material in a way nobody else has.”
When A Film Is About Hot Political Topics, Release Date Is Just About Everything
“It’s a truly weird season when a new Michael Moore movie is one of the least topical.”
Has Cord-Cutting Actually Become Real? And What’s Next?
“Although Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime kicked off the streaming revolution, the field is getting more crowded with new entrants serving up niche programming including wrestling, Japanese anime and South Korean soap operas. The new TV landscape is forcing traditional media companies to join the fray.”
More People Are Streaming. But Piracy Is Way Up Too
“Piracy is still just a great alternative, unfortunately, for those who want free content. The best way to fight piracy is to just make your own services better, cheaper, easier to use.”
Criticize Fox News All You want, But Its Audience Increased Again In 2015
“For the 14th consecutive year, Fox News led in total viewers and in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic crucial to advertisers. The network’s average of 1.8 million viewers in prime time placed it second among all cable channels, the highest finish for a cable news channel ever. (ESPN came in first.)”
This Was The Year The FCC Showed Why It’s Still Relevant
“On Feb. 26, the commission adopted the strongest net neutrality protections in American history: the Open Internet Order of 2015. This historic order established basic “rules of the road” for online traffic to prevent broadband providers from splitting the Internet into two tiers.”
Movies The Oscar Nominations Will Overlook, But Shouldn’t
“It happens every year. Some actor stands next to another performer or the president of the Academy … and they take turns telling you what’s up for an Oscar. Which means they’re also telling you what’s not. And ‘what’s not’ tends to be as important as what is. And every year, I’m left wondering whether months of punditry and daily forecasts of awards-season weather pollutes what was scarcely a pure process to begin with.”
What The Mainstream Can Learn From 2015’s Queer Indie Cinema
“The problem is that, even though mainstream viewers have learned to appreciate queer stories, creators still think that a story or its characters’ queerness is enough to create a successful work of art, commercially or otherwise. Or worse, that depicting a character queer in a nuanced way will scare away audiences. But that’s not the case, and it’s becoming obvious.”