“The studios hold competing theories over whether a surfeit of male-oriented movies helps drum up even greater interest in films for women. One camp says good movies will work regardless of what the competitive landscape looks like, while the other maintains that moviegoers (like nature) abhor a vacuum, that too many macho movies make romance, comedy and sobbing even more desirable.”
Category: media
Japan Toughens Copyright Law (If Not Scofflaws’ Penalties)
“The Japanese parliament has passed an amendment to the existing Copyright Law that extends further protections to copyright holders and, for the first time, makes it illegal for private users to download copyrighted material that has been uploaded without the rights holders’ permission. The new statute will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010[,] but contains several caveats that raise the question of how it will be enforced.” (Scroll down.)
Hollywood’s Top Prop Shop Closes Down
“[Harvey] Schwartz, the owner of 20th Century Props, plans to go out of business next month and auction the inventory. Battered by the surge in out-of-state movie production and the demise of scripted programming on network television, the once-thriving business – one of a handful of its type remaining – is failing.”
American Film Institute And Dallas Festival End Partnership
“After a three year partnership, the American Film Institute and the Dallas Film Society have decided to part ways. The Dallas Film Society announced Wednesday that it would not be renewing its licensing agreement with AFI, which it began in 2006.”
The Top Ten Movies To Help You Understand Iran
As the aftermath of the Iranian election plays out and the world watches nervously, here’s a list of films that help explain – and, in some cases, have themselves affected – the country’s politics and society.
British Film Institute Restores Cache Of Films Lost 50 Years
“For some 50 years, the reels of film lay forgotten in a London garage. Now a cache of more than 30 has been discovered, showing the first performances by young actors who would go on to become some of Britain’s greatest comedians, including Peter Sellers, Prunella Scales and Ronnie Corbett. The movies, all shot in the early 1950s when Britain was trying to turn its film industry into a mini-Hollywood, have now been given to the British Film Institute (BFI) to restore.”
PBS Bans New (But Grandfathers Existing) Religious Shows
“The Public Broadcasting Service agreed yesterday to ban its member stations from airing new religious TV programs, but permitted the handful of stations that already carry ‘sectarian’ shows to continue doing so. The vote by PBS’s board was a compromise from a proposed ban on all religious programming.” The network had already required stations’ programming to be nonsectarian, but it had not strictly enforced that rule.
British Govt. Backs Off Proposal To Merge BBC Worldwide And Channel Four
“The prospect of a merger between BBC Worldwide [the public broadcaster’s commercial arm] and Channel 4 has become less likely after the government backed away from proposals to merge the two organizations in whole or part. A public corporation, funded by advertising, Channel 4 has found it increasingly difficult to meet its public service obligations.”
Meanwhile, Channel Four Posts Its Archives Online
In July, “Channel 4 is to become the first UK broadcaster to put its back catalogue online completely free of charge.” Among the shows to be available on demand are Queer As Folk, Father Ted, Shameless and Da Ali G Show.
A £6 Tax To Pay For British Broadband
“A charge of 50p per month is to be levied on all landline telephone bills to subsidise the Government’s plan to bring broadband internet access, and faster download speeds, to every home [urban and rural] in the country by 2012.”