“TV-themed DVD sales topped $1 billion in 2003, a gold mine for formerly overlooked assets that had been collecting dust in studio vaults. Nurturing the trend, the studios in 2003 doubled the number of TV titles released in 2002. The TV on DVD business is expected to grow substantially again this year. That’s found money beyond the syndication market, a revenue stream that simply wasn’t there before.”
Tag: 02.22.04
Sacred Literalism – Christ On The Screen
America has a long tradition of being outraged at depictions of religion on the silver screen. “Since the beginning of movies, filmmakers worldwide have courted controversy with their attempts to ‘literalize the sacred.’ It’s true whether the subject is Jesus in The King of Kings, the Muslim prophet Muhammad in Mohammed, Messenger of God, or the Hindu deity Rama in the Ramayana.” And so the latest “The Passion of The Christ” is nothing new.
Lit Fiction – Struggling To Be Serious
Is serious fiction in danger? There does seem to be less of an audience. “It’s not that serious fiction no longer has a mass audience. It never did. Most readers prefer storytelling of the John Grisham and Stephen King variety because they want to be entertained, not challenged. Literary fiction is more demanding and complex.”
Cleveland Schools – An Architectural Opportunity
Cleveland has $1.5 billion to spend on building schools. “If ever there were an opportunity for excellence in architecture and planning – and a chance for Cleveland to distinguish itself nationally – this is it. But with the district ready to break ground soon for the first four new schools in the city in more than 20 years, the forecast for design is discouraging.”
Welcome To The New Houston
“For most of the past half-century, Houston was the proud avatar of freebooting suburban sprawl. You could do anything you wanted in Houston, as long as you did it as God intended, behind the wheel of your car. Downtown sprouted a forest of new office towers in the 1970s, but the old business district along and near Main Street fell into disuse.” In the past seven years, however, Houston has transformed itself…
Radio’s New Non-Format Format: Playing What We Want
There’s a new radio format on the Canadian airwaves, and record labels aren’t exactly thrilled. The stations are called JACK or BOB. “JACK’s “brave” programming strategy is to ignore radio’s typically strict formatting and to play a variety of stuff on one format that you’d normally hear on, say, three: A bit of classic rock, some adult contemporary and a whole lotta ’80s hits geared primarily towards listeners in their upper 30s and early 40s.”
Singing The Praises Of Singing
There are hundreds of thousands of choruses and choirs in North America. “For all the developments in symphonic and operatic music in recent decades, choral singing remains the most pervasive musical activity in the country, whether in churches, schools or concert halls.” So what is the allure of opening your mouth to make noise?
Why There Are No Movie Ads On The Oscars Telecast
Why don’t you see ads for movies on the annual Academy Awards telecast? It’s all about appearances, of course… But “cutting out an entire, very lucrative ad category appears not to have hurt ABC any; the network was able to charge about $1.5 million per 30-second spot this year and the ad time is all sold out.”
A Publishing Best-seller Miracle
Rick Warren’s “The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?” sold 11.3 million copies in 2003, making it one of the biggest best-sellers of all timke. “Unabashedly religious, the book is being read and studied by millions of people in and out of churches across the country. Readers are buying extra copies at churches and in bookstores and passing them along to friends. As a crossover bestseller, flying off the shelves in both the Christian and mainstream markets, it is a modern marketing miracle.”
Now In Theatres – The New Documentaries
Once it was rare to see documentary films in theatres. But documentaries are getting new respect at the box office. “Credit everything from wide availability of cheap technology for filmmakers and an explosion of cable channels and satellite TV desperate for product, to audiences whose appetite for the real has been whetted, but ultimately not satisfied, by reality TV. The documentary phenomenon is international.”