Category: media

“England’s nine screen agencies are to be merged to create a single body called Creative England. Culture minister Ed Vaizey announced the plans today, saying the new body will be chaired by John Newbigin, and will consist of three hubs, based in the north, the Midlands and the south.”

“The costs of the Office of the British Film Commissioner, whose job is to secure foreign investment in British films such as the Harry Potter series, are expected to be levied on an unsettled British film industry. Film executives are so worried about a fall in foreign investment – worth £1bn annually – that they are expected to endorse a ‘public-private’ partnership to save the office.”

“According to research firm SNL Kagan, US cable operators lost 741,000 basic video customers in the third quarter of the year, the biggest decline since it started tracking the segment in 1980.”

“[As] the barrier of buttons give way, … video games are poised to become more engaging – physically, emotionally and perhaps even intellectually – than they have ever been. But they will do so not by dehumanizing players but rather by bridging the gap between media and actual personal experience.”

“There really isn’t anyone else like [James] Schamus. There’s no precedent for a real academic – he’s a professor of professional practice in Columbia’s School of the Arts, a teacher and scholar who has served on the editorial board of Cinema Journal – to have a first-rate career as a writer, a producer and an executive in the film industry.”

“At a time when digital shooting offers greater convenience, lower cost and, most important, greater artistic control, it’s fascinating to watch how some of our most acclaimed filmmakers are anxious to hasten the demise of actual film.”

“The franchise may be in the hands of a US studio (Warner Bros) but its transformative effect on the British film landscape can’t be underestimated. For several years now, British film-industry observers have been asking anxiously what will happen when the Harry Potter series finishes.”

“A federal judge has blocked the makers of a thriller film starring Adrien Brody from using the Oscar-winning actor’s likeness until he is fully paid for his role.” The ruling “block[s] the makers of Giallo from continuing to distribute, market or sell Giallo in the United States.”

“In this latest video from Sesame Workshop … that lovably greedy Muppet makes his best case for why he deserves the nod, sending up S.N.L. segments like ‘MacGruber’ and ‘Weekend Update,’ and giving a musical performance in the guise of Monster Gaga.”

Under new financial restraints, they’re rebuilding the staff they had to slash and investing in movies that reflect the creative and commercial sensibilities that made them Hollywood mavericks when they ran Miramax Films.