The 2020 telecast, staged this month from a Hollywood soundstage as well as dozens of remote locations, pulled in more than 83 million livestreams, falling just a bit shy of doubling last year’s 45.2 million livestreams, which was itself a sharp increase from the 11.5 million the ceremony garnered in 2017. – Los Angeles Times
Tag: 12.21.20
Problems With The Meritocracy
Humans are given to hierarchy—we measure ourselves against those around us and strive to better our relative position—but we are, at the same time, unhappy that this is true of ourselves. This predicament is the product of two drives. – Boston Review
More Details On Congress’ COVID Funding For Performing Arts Venues
“We secured the Save Our Stages Act for indie music venues, Broadway, comedy clubs, indie movie theaters, and more,” Senator Chuck Schumer wrote on Twitter Sunday night. “These are people’s jobs and livelihoods, and they need this help now. I won’t stop fighting for them.” – Rolling Stone
Fanny Waterman, Co-Founder Of Leeds International Piano Competition, Dead At 100
“Somewhat embarrassingly, it was one of her own pupils, Michael Roll, who won the first competition, … but, despite the controversy, the event gradually grew from what she herself described as a ‘cottage industry’ into one of the most important of its type in the world.” She remained chairman and artistic director of “the Leeds” until just five years ago. – The Guardian
Trump’s Executive Order Targets Modernist Buildings
Retitled “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” it begins with a paean to “beautiful public architecture,” before moving on to a litany of disapproval aimed at modernist federal buildings. – NPR
Illegal Streaming Would Become A Felony Under COVID Relief Bill
“It’s been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed works. … It’s had very little time to circulate before evidently becoming part of the spending package. If passed, illegal streaming of works including movies and music tracks could carry a penalty of up to 10 years in jail. That’s not the only change to copyright law, either.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Scammers Are Conning Famous Authors Into Sending Them Unpublished Manuscripts
Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Ethan Hawke, Jo Nesbø and James Hannaham are a few “of countless targets in a mysterious international phishing scam that has been tricking writers, editors, agents and anyone in their orbit into sharing unpublished book manuscripts. It isn’t clear who the thief or thieves are, or even how they might profit from the scheme. … In fact, the manuscripts do not appear to wind up on the black market at all, or anywhere on the dark web, and no ransoms have been demanded. When copies of the manuscripts get out, they just seem to vanish.” – The New York Times
Pandemic Relief Legislation Will Aid Indie Movie Theaters But (Probably) Not Big Chains
“The grants will provide much-needed relief to these venues, many of which have seen their business all but vanish as the pandemic canceled concerts and stage plays, while pushing almost all new theatrical releases to 2021. These particular grants, however, appear to disqualify the three largest players in the domestic movie theater business: AMC, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Out Of This Year’s Wreckage: A New Model For Theatre?
Charles McNulty: “Even before the pandemic, the theater’s economic model was broken. Our resident theaters, the nonprofit companies that constitute the art form’s national foundation, arose in a cultural landscape drastically different from today’s.” – Los Angeles Times
Building On “Messiah” To Broaden A Multicultural Message
An 80-minute film featuring a dozen soloists from all corners of the country, this unabashed celebration of Canadian multiculturalism has recast the work as a series of deeply personal video narratives. – The New York Times