Category: media

Jordan Riefe reports from the first modern screening of the 66 minutes of rediscovered footage, which Welles created as entr’actes for his mixed-media staging of the 1894 William Gillette comedy.

“In 2013, ‘Iron Man 3’ sold about as many theater tickets in one day as all of their documentaries did all year. Combined.”

“The golden age began in 1984 when President Reagan deregulated the television industry, allowing broadcasters to sell larger chunks of time to advertisers. That year also saw a significant cable television growth spurt, exploding the number of channels needing content. In 1984–1995, marketers rediscovered the ‘the power of the half-hour,’ and fortunes were made.”

“New York had a record number of film and TV projects last year and is on track to do the same in 2014, state officials say. Credit goes to generous financial incentives, experienced crews that rival Hollywood’s best and friendly (some might say star-struck) politicians.”

“These brands may also want to pause to question just what the ‘hit’ status they are all chasing after really is. After all, Netflix doesn’t disclose measurement numbers, so no one knows how well these shows are really doing. But maybe the perception of having a hit is worth just as much as the real thing.”

“The Weinstein version of ‘Grace’ apparently shows Kelly’s story as a light fairy tale with a strong dose of wish fulfillment; French director Dahan and producer Le Pogam have fashioned a more melodramatic‎ account that highlights Kelly’s hardships upon her arrival in the monarchy.”

“As the books are adapted for other media, sequences that were described obliquely in the novels have become more explicit, more outrageous and more problematic.”

“The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) has published an interactive graphic demonstrating that since 1985, graduates of the school’s programs in character and experimental animation have brought Hollywood $30.6 billion in worldwide box office revenue as directors of feature films.”

“Chases showed up in 36 percent of the films in our data set and in half of the films released since 2005. Maybe a car explodes, as one does in 20 percent of the films in our set. Indeed, explosions in general are critical — since 2010, 77 percent of blockbusters featured at least one explosion.”

“The publishing platform that carried us into the mobile Internet age is receding. Its influence on publishing will remain, but the platform’s place in Internet culture is changing in a way that feels irreversible and echoes the tradition of AIM and pre-2005 blogging. … People are still using Twitter, but they’re not hanging out there.”