“The streaming-audio company inked a deal with NPR to distribute 26 podcasts — including NPR News Hour, Planet Money, Car Talk and Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! — outside the U.S. A few NPR shows that are available on Spotify U.S. aren’t part of the international-distribution pact, including most notably Fresh Air hosted by Terry Gross.” – Variety
Category: media
Man Who Burned Down Kyoto Animation Studio Charged With Murder
In July of 2019, Shinji Aoba, now 42, allegedly poured gasoline around the studio building and set it alight; the fire killed 36 people and injured 33 more, including the suspect himself. (Prosecutors had to wait until he had recovered from his burns and undergone an extended psychiatric evaluation before they could indict him.) Aoba now faces trial for murder, attempted murder, arson, trespass, and breaking Japan’s arms-control law. – Variety
Are Movie Studios Killing Theatres In Favor Of Streaming?
The Wall Street imperative now is too strong to resist. The conglomerates are sacrificing the future of moviegoing for the pandemically friendly practice of moviestaying. We were heading that way before COVID. Now we’re there. Outside the river of streaming content, for most studios the rest is just sentiment and small potatoes. – Chicago Tribune
AI Can Now Translate Movie Dialog In The Actors Voices
Deepdub, which came out of stealth on Wednesday, has built technology that can translate a voice track to a different language, all while staying true to the voice of the talent. This makes it possible to have someone like Morgan Freeman narrate a movie in French, Italian or Russian without losing what makes Freeman’s voice special and recognizable. – Protocol
All Hollywood Is Furious At Warner Bros. (Nobody Blames The Streamers)
“In the aftermath of WarnerMedia’s decision to put its entire 2021 slate of films on its HBO Max streaming service the same day the titles open in theaters, the AT&T division seems to recognize the need for damage control — but not quite how to go about it.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Vox Media’s CEO Doesn’t Want It To Be Like Condé Nast. He Wants It To Be Like Disney.
Jim Bankoff: “Disney makes money by bringing its properties to consumers in different ways. … We have everything from programmatic advertising to podcasting, to creating TV shows to having a magazine, to affiliate e-commerce to subscriptions. So we have our own way of making money off our creative franchises.” – Vanity Fair
Could The Streaming Wars Hit Their Peak In 2021?
The problem with all this growth is that eventually streaming services will just run out of households to sign up. This year, video-on-demand services have seen more growth than any other time in their history… But in 2021 the industry could see a massive cooling. Everyone will have tried everything and pretty much decided which ones they’re sticking to. – Wired
TV’s Landscape Had Several New Nonbinary Characters This Year
From Star Trek: Discovery to Good Trouble, TV shows added nonbinary characters this year. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation – GLAAD – even has a checklist for writers’ rooms. All this isn’t an untrammeled joy for nonbinary people, however: Often, “nonbinary characters don’t appear to be informed by a real nonbinary person’s experience and perspective.” – Los Angeles Times
The Head Of WarnerMedia Is Suddenly An Industry-Wide Supervillain
Jason Kilar made what he thought was a pretty decent decision, given the coronavirus – to launch Warner Bros’ entire 2021 slate both in movie theatres (well, the ones that are open) and HBO Max. Filmmakers, agents, actors, movie theatre chains, and many others are bemused or furious. To put it mildly, many in and out of Warner Media “chafe at what they see is a lack of respect for Hollywood tradition.” – The New York Times
Which Of Steve McQueen’s Five New Films Should You Watch First?
Whew, they’re all part of a piece, of course – that’s why they come under the title Small Axe as an anthology series – but some are more full films than others. Let’s say you have three hours. Which one, or ones, are best? – Variety