Category: media

Even before COVID-19 shut down production completely, three historic companies were in trouble – deep in debt to creditors, troubled by streaming, etc. Then seven feature films in Paris alone stopped dead, one leaving a street recreated in WWII-era styles. Some relief: “The National Cinema Center (CNC) plans to relieve the short-term cash flow of 1,200 arthouse cinemas and distributors. It also suspended payment of the ticket tax (TSA) in March and authorized the advance use of the support fund.” – Le Monde

But it’s a complex consideration: “‘You do feel guilty about putting these anxieties in people’s minds,’ said Bruce Miller, the creator and showrunner of Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. ‘There’s no way not to feel like you somehow wished things into being.'” – The New York Times

At least, once the show has caught up to where people are. “The BBC has revealed that its long-running BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers will have its first coronavirus-related storyline in early May. Recording is typically done weeks in advance of broadcast, meaning writers have so far been unable to reflect the rapidly evolving pandemic on the show. Producers said they wanted listeners to be able ‘to go to Ambridge in the usual way for as long as possible.'” – BBC

For actors, writers, directors, and all of the many, many thousands of craft workers, there’s a little help: “The act includes a provision known as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance that extends unemployment benefits to those who otherwise would not qualify, including the self-employed and independent contractors.” – Los Angeles Times

So what are they doing instead of booking, acting, producing, and bartending? Hosting livestreamed music classes for kids in the morning and asking watchers to donate $5 if they have it; building creative communities; and, well, kicking up the “coronavirus content” subgenre. – The Atlantic

Sandy, as listeners called him, spoke like a reassuring, relatable friend. “Sandy Macpherson’s quiet voice is very reassuring at a time when our ears are on the alert for warning sirens,” one family wrote in September 1939. At Christmas, fans showered him with “flowers, mufflers, handkerchiefs, cigarettes, fruit and pots of jam.” – The Conversation

“The bill includes $75 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ‘to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including for fiscal stabilization grants to public telecommunications entities,’ the bill says. [It] directs CPB to use the funds to help ‘maintain programming and services and preserve small and rural stations threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.'” – Current