Category: media

“New Jersey’s public television network signed off for the last time and many other PBS stations around the US may soon follow suit. The reason: cuts in funding from state governments across the country.”

“The holy grail of the film business has always been to be able to make only hits while avoiding flops, and the quest has spawned periodic manifestos and strategies that seemed to work — until they failed. But Pixar appeared to have cracked the code, not just for box-office but also for creative success. What was the secret?”

“As home-entertainment revenue declined in the last five years, studios reduced spending on scripts from new writers, cut junior staff positions and severely curtailed deals with producers who once provided entry-level positions for film school graduates. Yet applications to university film, television and digital media programs surged in the last few years as students sought refuge from the weak economy in graduate schools and some colleges opened new programs.”

“Prostitutes and brothels are obviously and regrettably simply vehicles to work the R rating, to give viewers, if you will pardon the expression and maybe you shouldn’t, more bang for the buck. Which isn’t just gratuitous and ridiculous, it’s lazy and sexist. For all their many functions, women’s bodies are not props and prostitution is not something that should be regularly relegated to atmosphere.”

“The decline underscored the fact that there are fewer writers working at a time when studios have scaled back the number of feature films they are releasing. The number of screenwriters who reported earnings fell 13% ,to 1,615, last year compared with 2009, the report stated.”

“American Idol” draws about 30 million viewers for its grand-finale shows, whereas Sullivan attracted some 40 million viewers nearly every Sunday night for two decades — when the country had half as many people as it does now.

KCET is “embarking on an ambitious programming slate as it forges a new identity for viewers, and station officials say donations are slowly inching back after a difficult time earlier this year, when station insiders buzzed that the cost of putting on pledge drives exceeded their intake in donations.”

“Zepped, believed to be a propaganda film made in Britain during World War One, was discovered inside a battered old film reel tin” purchased on eBay for about $5. “The reserve price on the reel at Wednesday’s sale was £100,000 ($160,000) at Bonham’s auctioneers, but apparently it was too high.”

“The Oscar-nominated filmmaker [for Incendies] says he’s attached to the Warner Bros. feature Prisoners and hopes to begin shooting by the end of this year.”

“It’s true, of course, that the works that are best selected, best prepared and best distributed tend to reach wide audiences and/or find commercial success. But it’s also true that many works are viewed on the internet without having any of these things.”