Category: media

“Dawn Hudson, the first person to hold a newly created post as the organization’s chief executive, has hung in more than twice as long” as the two months Bette Davis lasted as president. “But that does not mean Hollywood’s film academy is at ease with the latest strong-willed woman to promise what has always come hard for it: change.”

Often called “the American BBC”, this non-profit public broadcaster is now launching in the UK, bringing its unique brand of television to British viewers for the first time.

“I’d argue that the lists demonstrate that TorrentFreak customers are early adopters while Netflix subscribers are late adopters. Being largely young, Torrent fans go for the eye candy movies that have the biggest buzz of the moment while the Netflix crowd, which skews older, prefers movies that have a more cerebral sort of buzz, the prestige of critical cachet.”

“YouTube is shelling out $100 million to producers, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The money is an advance on advertising money the videos will bring in, and Google will recoup its portion first before splitting the proceeds. Advances are as high as $5 million per channel.”

“The TV show has a new cast of local characters led by a vivacious 6-year-old girl named Rani who loves cricket and traditional Pakistani music. … The U.S. is bankrolling the initiative with $20 million, hoping it will improve education in a country where one-third of primary school-age children are not in class.”

“Residents of Coronation Street will rest easier knowing their money is no longer being held in a fictional bank, as British television’s first primetime product placement is set to appear on the soap in the form of a Nationwide ATM.”

Dawn Hudson, the new CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has been ruffling feathers – or roiling the board with her advocacy of diverse voices. “Diversity is not a strong suit of the academy’s governors; all but one are white, only six are women, and the average age appears to be over 60.”

Musicals mean far more than we want them to, says David Benedict, who loves Singin’ in the Rain. “It is not that musicals cannot work through narrative, it is that they choose a richer, more expressively full-blooded route consciously abandoning realism for idealistic fantasy.”

Advertisers and listeners appear to be departing radio in record numbers. But at Colorado Public Radio, a new indie-rock station launches Sunday. What gives?

What book authors like Cory Doctorow and musicians like Radiohead have been saying for years is now translating to the movies as well: “The success of Margin Call raises the prospect that theater owners have it all wrong, that alternative ways of watching a movie actually increases the number of people who will pay to see it without subtracting from their coffers.”