“Proponents of Ottawa’s controversial tax bill have pointed to the upcoming Canadian film Young People Fucking as a reason to curtail public funding for movies some deem offensive, while opponents of the bill from all sectors of the arts community are accusing the government of censorship.” None of this, of course, is hurting the film’s publicity efforts.
Tag: 03.20.08
Limited Exposure
Marketing your film to the American public is hard enough under the best of circumstances. But how do you sell your lighthearted comedy when your star is known to have attempted suicide recently? Keep him away from the cameras, apparently…
Philly Doles Out More Than $2m In Arts Grants
“More than 200 arts and cultural organizations in Philadelphia have been awarded grants totaling $2.1 million through the city’s Cultural Fund.” The grants are unrestricted, designed to fund general operations, which is frequently one of the hardest areas for cultural organizations to raise money for.
Clarke’s Religion (Or Lack Thereof)
Arthur C. Clarke, the groundbreaking science fiction writer who died earlier this week, was a dedicated atheist who saw religion “as a symptom of humanity’s ‘infancy,’ something to be outgrown and overcome.” So why do so many of his works seem so, well, Biblical?
Well, It Wouldn’t Be The Opera Without Melodrama
New York’s Metropolitan Opera is having trouble getting through a single performance of its current production of Tristan und Isolde without someone either taking ill or getting injured by a piece of scenery. And a glance at operatic history makes clear that none of this is terribly unusual.
Arrests In Danish Cartoon Fracas
“Last month the Danish police arrested two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan descent on charges of plotting to kill [Kurt] Westergaard, one of the 12 cartoonists whose pictures of Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten sparked protests, some of them violent, by Muslims around the world in 2006.” The arrests shocked many Danes, who had been trying to forget about the controversy…
Black Audiences Embracing Broadway
“Just five years ago there were questions about whether black audiences would come to a Broadway show in significant numbers.” But three recent Broadway productions featuring mostly black casts have succeeded in drawing huge African-American audiences, and many in the industry see potential for much more of the same success.
Paul Scofield, 86
“Paul Scofield, one of Britain’s greatest Shakespearean actors and an Academy Award winner, has died at the age of 86… Scofield won the Oscar for best actor in 1967 for A Man for All Seasons, and was also nominated in 1995 for best supporting actor for Quiz Show.”
Consultant To Try To Settle Dallas Dispute
The city of Dallas has agreed to hire an acoustical expert in an effort to alleviate a dispute over the placement of a new outdoor concert venue in the city’s arts district. The Dallas Symphony, which plays next door to the proposed stage, is concerned about noise levels.
Familiar Sounds From Shreveport
While orchestral troubles in Columbus have been grabbing the headlines lately, the Shreveport Symphony is in even more dire straits, with a proposal on the table to convert all of its full-time musicians to pay-per-service freelancers, which would amount to a 75% pay cut. Even the musicians say they aren’t sure whether the necessary support exists to keep the ensemble afloat.