“A September 2005 study by Basex Inc. estimated that interruptions from e-mail, Web browsing, instant messaging and other electronic communications cost U.S. companies $588 billion a year. It estimated that interruptions constituted 28 percent of the average knowledge worker’s day.”
Tag: 01.23.07
Henry Fogel To Orchestras: “Relationships”
Orchestras have to completely rethink how to engage with the community, Fogel told delegates, and that means tackling the white bias: “Don’t sit in your office with your mostly all-white staff and think up programs and go into the community and say ‘Boy, have we got a good program for you, here it is.’ Go into the community and actually ask the question: ‘If you had a relationship with the orchestra, what might it be like, what might you want?’ ”
Pub Theatre Finds A Niche
“Pub theatres stage anything from comedies, pantomimes and musicals dreamed up by promising new writers to established works like Shakespeare and Arthur Miller in often tiny rooms. Enthusiasts say the intimate relationship between actors and the audience in confined spaces makes for an exciting experience.”
Oscar Nominations Announced
The musical “Dreamgirls” led Academy Awards contenders Tuesday with eight nominations, but surprisingly was shut out for best picture, positioning the ensemble drama “Babel” or the mob saga “The Departed” as potential front-runners.
Provenance Of Greek Royals’ Heirlooms Questioned
“Greece asked Christie’s International, the world’s largest art seller, to stop an auction of heirlooms belonging to the former Greek royal family, saying the origins of some of the objects were questionable. Culture Minister George Voulgarakis sent a letter to the auction house yesterday requesting it to cancel the sale, scheduled to begin tomorrow, and to prove the provenance of the items….”
Where Are The Female Directors? Sundance
“Female directors, as rare in Hollywood as obese actresses, are prominent at the Sundance Film Festival. Only 7 percent of the 250 top-grossing movies in 2005 were directed by women, according to a study by San Diego State University. But at this year’s festival in Park City, Utah, which runs through Jan. 28, 52 of the 196 features and short films were made by women.”
For Centennial, Kirstein Emerges From Background
“This year, Lincoln Kirstein, a man who spent most of his life behind the scenes, will finally get his time in the spotlight. Few individuals have had a greater influence on the arts in New York City — and therefore in the country as a whole — than Kirstein (1907-1996). Yet Kirstein, whose centennial is being celebrated this year, is hardly a household name.”
R-Rated Movies Aren’t For Little Kids After All
“Dan Glickman says the changes in the movie ratings system he announced [at the Sundance Film Festival] Monday were not inspired by the Sundance documentary ‘This Film Is Not Yet Rated,’ which trashed the ratings body that grades films G, PG, R, etc., as a super-secret, censorious cabal that suffocates filmmakers — and gives violent movies a pass while being too strict about sex.”
Radio Stations Collaborate To Keep Classical Music
Washington, D.C., commercial radio station WGMS dropped its classical-music programming Monday, but that night a noncommercial station went classical, aided by the owner of WGMS. The company “said it struck the unusual agreement with noncommercial WETA to prevent classical music from disappearing from local airwaves. Such an alliance between for-profit and a nonprofit radio stations is almost unheard of.”
Fans Hold The Power, And Hollywood Wants It Back
“Whether it’s [Jennifer] Hudson, lonelygirl15 or Jade Goody, the foul-mouthed ex-nurse who … is just as celebrated in England as Posh Spice, celebrity has been rudely down-marketed and democratized. As Aaron Sorkin so eloquently put it the other day, complaining about the blogger influence on media coverage of his ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ TV drama: ‘We live in the age of amateurs.’ “