Category: media

“The agreement will create a joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent and [General Electric] owning 49 percent. Comcast will contribute to the joint venture its stable of cable channels, which includes Versus, the Golf Channel and E Entertainment … For now, the network will remain NBC Universal, but ultimately Comcast could decide to change the name.”

“Director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air was chosen the best film of 2009 and Clint Eastwood was named best director by the National Board of Review on Thursday in the first big awards of Hollywood’s Oscar season.” Eastwood and actor Morgan Freeman, playing Nelson Mandela, won for Invictus; Carey Mulligan took best actress for An Education.

Judy Davis’s performance in My Brilliant Career was “destined to become a cultural watershed, one whose effects we can feel when we go to the movies or turn on our TVs. In fact, 30 years on, we’re currently living in an era that will be remembered for being dominated by great Australian actresses.” Think Blanchett, Kidman, Watts, Collette, Griffiths, Cornish …

“Movieclips.com, which launches on Thursday, allows users to watch 12,000 clips free and embed them on blogs and websites such as Twitter and Facebook. … The studios will hope the site stimulates interest in their film libraries.” That is, they’re hoping the clips will generate sales.

“Even amid the accelerating collapse of the specialized film business … several 2009 Sundance premieres enjoyed commercial and critical acclaim, buoying the hopes of 2010’s sellers.” Festival programmers “say the coming Sundance lineup is in part designed to reflect the upheaval within the art film world.”

“Sundance has always made risky selections. … But as independent film boomed over the last decade, the festival at times showed a willingness to give premiere slots as favors to studios or put too much emphasis on advance buzz from sales agents and scouts when making selections.” John Cooper, the festival’s new director, “is trying to address such criticism.”

“Indonesia’s censors have banned Balibo, an Australian-made film about five foreign journalists who were killed by Indonesian troops during the 1975 invasion of East Timor.” (Bootleg DVDs of the movie are already available in Jakarta.)

“The BAFTA television awards will have two new categories from next year, with prizes for best supporting actress and actor introduced. In addition, the award for best comedy performance is to be split into two, giving recognition to both the best female performance in a comedy and the best male performance.”

Critics and other observers argue that we’re in the midst of an Australian filmmaking renaissance. But cinema in Oz is still part of the cultural sector: “no country in the world apart from the US and India can sustain a film industry without government support.”

“The permits contained information on filming locations for movies and television shows,” and requests to view them “now have to be made by mail or e-mail through New York State’s Freedom of Information Law.” The paparazzi are not amused.