Netflix has ordered 34 reality shows this year, way more than ever before. Why? Well: “They’re expanding the universe of big-budget, high-profile, high-concept reality series because their research tells them that’s what the audience wants.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
If Skydance Paramount Warner Bros Discovery becomes real, “this is probably the last mega deal we will see. The cable network assets are the problem. ... What's left will be studios, streaming, broadcast in some combination of that. And that's the end of it.” - Wall Street Journal
Ouch, just ouch. “The writing suggests that ChatGPT was asked to emulate Fifty Shades’ E. L. James, and however cringeworthy and brand-name-peppered that sounds, I can promise you it’s so much worse.” - The Atlantic
“Superficially, at least, Hamnet fits better in the traditional mold of Oscars-friendly fare.” And that’s what scares fans of Sinners and One Battle After Another. - Vulture
Of course, Kate Hawley also “looked at Lord Bryon. ‘He’s an artist finding his muse. He’s not a scientist in the way that we traditionally know it, this is art that he’s building. We looked at all those references with bohemian irreverence and the way he wears his clothes.’” - Variety
“Officials said the end of the PBS partnership could cost Alabama Public Television millions in funding, 90% of its content and thousands of audience members. ‘I’m afraid that it would be the end of APT-PBS as we know it,’ APT Commissioner Pete Conroy said.” - AL.com
“The inaugural IndieChina film festival was planned to take place between 8 and 15 November. But on 5 November the festival’s curator ... posted on Facebook that he had been forced to cancel 80% of the planned screenings because film-makers had pulled out” after their families in China were pressured by authorities. - The Guardian
Until, that is, last week, when the 1985 film Mishima finally had its Japanese premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where the screening sold out in ten minutes. Before that? Well, in his homeland the life and ideas of the author were something of an uncomfortable subject. - The New York Times
"You have to basically be a restaurant, which movie theaters are not. This is going to make it easier for movie theaters to have sustainable business models." - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo)
For Love or Money had a budget of £4.3m and claimed tax credits of £994,353 – or 23% of the budget. If you actually sit through the 95 minutes of the film, you might ask if the product really cost that much, given its budget feel and the calibre of the script. - The Guardian
“By the accounts of many industry insiders, Ellison has been leveraging his family’s extraordinary wealth and access to President Trump to prepare for a buying spree. With the help of his father, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison (the world’s second-richest person), the Silicon Valley scion wants to take on Netflix, Amazon and Apple.” - Variety
“That’s the question on the minds of Hollywood and Wall Street after the company put itself up for sale, citing ‘unsolicited interest’ from ‘multiple parties.’” - TheWrap (Yahoo!)
“The way that consumption habits have shifted over the last five years is almost more drastic than it was in the previous 50 years. You have a pre-TikTok and post-TikTok split in the way that consumption was felt and experienced by people." - The Guardian
The rules require Netflix, Prime Video and the other global streamers with more than one million Australian subscribers to spend 10% of their total Australian expenditure – or 7.5% of their revenues – on local originals. - Deadline
