Hollywood released a record 28 film sequels this year. Is there any mystery why?
Category: media
A New Wave Of Independent Black Cinema?
“Traditionally films made for, and often by, African-Americans have fallen within a very narrow definition of our experience.” (Think of ’70s blaxploitation or ’90s “hood” films.) Now a group of young filmmakers is telling new stories – about mixed-race families, gays and lesbians, immigrants from Africa and the like.
Where Economic Development Meets Reality TV
“Governments around the world are scrambling to find innovative policies to create jobs in the teeth of a global downturn. In ex-Soviet Georgia, the government appears to have found a policy that’s all its own: reality TV.”
Business Models Change As The Ways We Get Content Change
“The inertia that has kept consumers from bolting from traditional content providers is beginning to erode as a new generation remakes media in its own image. Device companies and search outfits are intent on manufacturing their own content. And the migration of movies, music and video to the cloud could change the weather in a hurry.”
German Fans Of TV Show Crowdsource Funding For Movie Version
“The producers of Stromberg, the German adaptation of the fly-on-the-wall office sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, have raised some $1.3 million (€1 million) in just one week in an online crowd-funding action to bankroll a German feature film based on the series.”
FCC Proposes Relaxing TV/Newspaper Ownership Rules
“As part of a review of its media ownership rules, the FCC said it wanted relax the newspaper and television cross-ownership rule in top-20 markets. The agency tried a similar maneuver in 2007, but media watchdogs argued that it would lead to a loss of independent voices and too much media consolidation.”
Cat Videos Are So Over – The Hot New Internet Animal Is?
“Baby sloths are the new Internet darling, thanks to a sloth sanctuary recently featured on Animal Planet. A video of its occupants went viral, and now online denizens can’t get enough of the Central and South American mammal.”
Death Of The TV Jingle?
“What happened to the jingle? How did such a successful tool, whose mnemonic punch has been confirmed by the latest brain research, end up in the trash?”
Charlie Kaufman (Of All People) To Make A Movie Musical
Now the writer of Being John Malkovich, Synecdoche, New York and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is making a film where half the dialogue is sung. The story features a director whose movie gets 29(!) Oscar nominations, a popular and vicious film blogger who (yes) lives with his parents, and a robot head.
Rebecca Black Tops 2011 Most-Watched YouTube Videos
“Rebecca Black’s infamous “Friday” video has topped all other YouTube videos of 2011 with 180 million views. The site announced its most-viewed clips of the year Tuesday.”