The Problem With Cannes "It is a festival that sometimes appears to be suffering severe personality disorder, uncertain whether it exists to celebrate art or commerce. When the two worlds collide, confusion often ensues. Parties and photo opportunities risk distracting attention from the once-important fact that there are films to be shown."

The Independent (UK) 05/08/08

email this story | Posted 05/09/08@05:49AM

Los Angeles Declares Digital Piracy A "Public Nuisance", Passes Big Fines "The county retains the right to shutter a property for up to a year for violating ordinance 13.90.010 and also gives local authorities the right to bring a civil action to 'temporarily restrain, preliminarily enjoin, and/or permanently enjoin the person or persons intentionally conducting, or knowingly maintaining or permitting the public nuisance from further conducting, maintaining, or permitting such a public nuisance.' Property owners who knowingly permit such activity can also be dinged $1,000 for each counterfeited work produced on the property."

Wired 05/08/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@07:24PM

Filmmaker Tries To Finance Movie By Donations Over The Web An aspiring Canadian filmmaker "launched a Web site earlier this year to raise C$1 million ($988,457) and is selling frames of his yet-to-be-made film over the Internet for C$10 a piece. In return, investors will receive a credit in his movie, advertisement rights on his site and a cut of the profits if the film makes money."

Yahoo! (Reuters) 05/08/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@07:19PM

Actors And Studios Let Negotiation Deadline Pass "Negotiations between Hollywood studios and the Screen Actors Guild were dashed Tuesday when contract talks ended on a bitter note, fueling anxiety over the prospect of another strike. After three weeks of talks, studios walked away from the table, saying that negotiations were 'thrust into reverse' by what they called 'unreasonable demands'."

Los Angeles Times 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@06:13PM

A Record First Week For A Video Game So the movie Iron Man sold $100 million in tickets its opening weekend. Okay. But the video game Grand Theft Auto IV grossed $500 million in worldwide sales its first week.

Los Angeles Times 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@06:09PM

Actors, Hollywood Studios Break Off Contract Talks The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers statement blamed "SAG's continued adherence to unreasonable demands," citing the union proposals to increase the "residual" payments actors earn for DVD sales as one of the key stumbling blocks."

Yahoo! (Reuters) 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@07:45PM

How To Fix Next Year's TV Season "When things went wrong, the networks had no idea how to fix them because they have been relying on aging business processes and stubborn, viewer-unfriendly practices for ages. Those need to change."

San Francisco Chronicle 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@04:13PM

Plunging TV Ratings - Don't Just Blame The Strike US TV ratings are down considerably, even after striking writers came back to work. But while it's convenient to blame the strike for the slippage, the strike is not solely to blame...

MSNBC 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@03:47PM

Colleges Puzzle Over Escalating Recording Industry Complaints In recent weeks, universities have seen a huge increase in the number of complaints about illegal student downloading from the Recording Industry Association of America. But colleges say they have seen no increase in network traffic, and are questioning the legitimacy of the RIAA complaints.

InsideHigherEd 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@03:36PM

Newspapers Try To Lure Back Newspaper Ads "Though studio ad spending in newspapers has stabilized recently, it's still way lower than it was just two years ago. According to the Newspaper National Network, studios spent $880 million on newspaper ads last year, down from $1.5 billion in 2005. While that huge drop has hit some papers hard, the fact that the bleeding has slowed of late is encouraging."

Variety 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@06:21PM

Within Our Grasp: The Holy Grail Of TV Advertising? "This new paradigm will feature advanced set-top boxes -- courtesy of the cable industry's hush-hush Project Canoe initiative -- that will, the cable biz hopes, deliver on its long-touted promise of precisely targeting ads to individuals based on taste and lifestyle just like Internet advertising does."

Variety 05/02/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@06:06AM

How The TV Strike Changed Everything "In profound and permanent ways, the television business has changed since the writers declared pencils down. Network and media agency executives agree that the stoppage was the first line of an entirely new script for the television industry, one which, to borrow entertainment parlance, "reimagines" how TV has been developed, bought and sold for more 50 years."

Variety 05/02/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@06:03AM

Can A TV Show Make Kids Smarter? "Here is what we know of kids' TV: it is bad and ruinous to health, it can lead to obesity, and is ultimately a poor substitute for what all our offspring really desire - the attention of their parents. There have been studies published to suggest that overexposure to television can have many detrimental effects, and can even hinder speech development in the very young. Here is something else we know of kids' TV: that while it may prove temporarily diverting to our children, it is nothing less than torture for the rest of us."

The Independent (UK) 05/03/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@05:56AM

Canadian Tax Plan Could Deny Film Credits, Promote Censorship In Canada, "a single sentence in a 560-page tax bill has brought a procession of film stars and directors to the Senate, has started a national debate about censorship, and may even provoke a federal election."

The New York Times 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@05:13AM

Tough Times For Indie Film Producers "The biggest problem facing us is the distribution of these pictures in America. The DVD business is flattening out; the theatrical business is becoming increasingly difficult for independent films. As the studios release more tentpole pictures, it really squeezes the independent films out of the marketplace and forces independent distributors to spend more money to get recognition in the marketplace."

Backstage 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@08:19PM

What Defines A Classic (Performance) Great performances depend, in large part, on reverse projection. We often talk about an actor projecting this or that emotion, but that's not the only way it works. Watch a movie star, especially during a close-up reaction shot, and you're likely to see his or her face holding still, staying neutral so as not to give too much away. We're the ones who are doing the projecting, and what we detect, bouncing back like radar returns from the actor's face, is our own empathetic response -- what we feel the character is feeling.

Wall Street Journal 05/03/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@10:52AM

In Bad Economic Times, Hollywood Sees Box Office Opportunity "With America supposedly on the brink of Great Depression II (like most sequels, its arrival has been hyped in advance), studio executives are closing their eyes and seeing dollar signs. The data seems to support the optimism." After all, in four of the past five recessions, Hollywood's box offic has increased.

The Times (UK) 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@10:33AM

Does Technology That Becomes Obsolete Devalue Art Created With It? "How will audiences of the future view art created with technologies of the past? To explore this and other delicate issues, more than 300 conservators, artists, curators and art historians gathered at the Getty Center for a three-day 'Object in Transition' conference earlier this year. Aimed at getting a grip on art in flux, attendees discussed new media."

Los Angeles Times 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 05/02/08@05:11AM

Report: Studios, Actors Far Apart On New Contract "In particular, the studios challenged a proposed restructuring of the formula for residual fees received by actors from DVD sales, which it said would double the current $500 million total that actors would receive over three years if the current formula was unchanged."

MSNBC (AP) 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/01/08@05:12PM

Some Afghan TV Stations Defy Ban On Popular Indian Soaps "Authorities say the popular Indian programmes conflict with Afghanistan's Islamic values. However, Tolo TV and Afghan TV say the ban is illegal. The Indian serials often show men and women together and feature what some Afghans consider to be immodestly-dressed women."

BBC 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/01/08@04:33PM

Ratings Plunge For Post-Strike American TV "Were not fans of television's favorite shows so feverish with pent-up desire to see new episodes that they planted themselves in front of their plasma screens at the appointed hours? Apparently not. Did the strike by Hollywood writers, which shut down production for 14 weeks, drive viewers away to other entertainment options? Maybe."

The New York Times 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/01/08@07:16AM

Last Of The Movie Critics? "Because new generations of filmgoers seem to be looking less and less to publications like The New Yorker, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek and many others to find out about upcoming films and are turning to Web sites like rottentomatoes.com -- which provides an approval rating based on a collection of reviews by critics -- newspapers and magazines are shucking their ranks of critics in alarming numbers."

MSNBC 04/28/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@06:34PM

Hollywood Box Office Down So Far This Year "Year to date, only one movie, Fox's "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!" has topped the $100 million mark. Although total domestic grosses for 2008 are running just 2% behind last year, that's thanks to the Christmas releases; the spring slate actually lagged 18% behind last year's numbers. Meanwhile, the specter of recession is bearing down on the United States, gas prices are rising and consumers are feeling the pinch."

Backstage 04/29/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@06:31PM

Fears For Rome's Glamorous Film Fest With Election Of New Mayor "Some of Italy's cultural stars are already bemoaning the end of a golden age following the election of the rightist candidate Gianni Alemanno as Mayor of Rome, which has placed a question mark over the future of the city's lavish film festival."

The Independent (UK) 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@06:06PM

Will Recession Make Movie Business Boom? "Moviegoing historically has proved more than resistant to downturns -- theater attendance actually increased during three of the last four recessions. And this year, Hollywood hopes the downturn could kindle a near record-breaking May-to-September season."

Los Angeles Times 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@08:51AM

Viral Movie Marketing To Make Your Head Hurt Gone are the days when marketing a movie online involved simply buying a URL like DarkKnight.com and uploading a trailer. Warner Bros. has launched more than 30 Web sites during the past year in support of the latest in the "Batman" franchise, a trail of virtual bread crumbs intended to sate fans until the July 18 release.

Yahoo (Reuters) 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@08:48AM

The Top 100 Movies Of All Time (A Different Kind Of List?) "Having read endless Top 100 film lists, we felt short-changed. Sure, they're definitive in their way, but they don't have many surprises. This one aims to be all-encompassing, certainly, and authoritative. But it is also intended to cause debate and maybe consternation."

The Times (UK) 04/29/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@07:11PM

Golden Oldie TV Hits The Web Within the last few months, television distributors have opened up their libraries of classic content online, making thousands of episodes of programs like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" available free.

The New York Times 04/28/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@08:02AM

Toronto Fights To Regain "Hollywood North" Title "While the industry made a slight recovery in 2004, the rise of the Canadian dollar - now hovering around par with the U.S. dollar - combined with a wave of intense competition from U.S. states and countries around the world has since left Toronto's struggling film/TV industry humbled but determined to regain its former status."

Toronto Star 04/27/08

email this story | Posted 04/27/08@11:53PM

Fears Of Actors' Strike Spikes LA Film Production In the first part of 2008 movie production in LA is up 11 percent as studios anticipate ahead of a possible actors' strike.

Yahoo! 04/27/08

email this story | Posted 04/27/08@11:39PM

Movies That Can Change The World "Do films really change the world? Do films about changing the world make any money? To the first question, the Hollywood answer is probably a shrug, but to the second, for the moment at least, it would appear to be yes."

The Observer (UK) 04/27/08

email this story | Posted 04/27/08@02:52PM

A Need To Reinvent Public Radio "The urgency to find new formats is driven by audience research that can be read as glass half-empty or half-full. The 28 million weekly public radio listeners recorded by Arbitron in spring 2007 topped the previous high of 27.5 million in 2004. But the research also showed that the listeners were tuning in for shorter periods."

The New York Times 04/27/08

email this story | Posted 04/27/08@02:18PM

Canadian Broadcasters Want To Charge Cable Companies "CTV and Global are asking for the so-called carriage fees because they say their revenues are plummeting; they have promised the CRTC that the money would go toward local programming, helping pay for the beleaguered local newscasts. Despite the fond hopes of Canadian television creators, they have not suggested the money would go toward Canadian drama, a genre that has shrivelled since a CRTC decision in 1999 expanded the definition of priority programming."

The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/26/08

email this story | Posted 04/27/08@01:42PM

Singapore Fines TV Network For "Promoting Gay Lifestyle" The show was a Jan 13 episode of a home decorating series called Find and Design. "It was found to have normalized and promoted a gay lifestyle. The Media Development Authority imposed a fine of S$15,000 ($11,040) and said that this was a repeat offense for Channel 5."

Variety 04/25/08

email this story | Posted 04/25/08@07:27AM

US Senate Committee Nixes New FCC Media Ownership Rules Without dissent the panel approved a "legislative veto" that would prevent the commission from implementing new regulations that remove the federal bar to newspaper-broadcast combinations in the top markets and make it easier for the combos to receive approval in the smaller ones.

Hollywood Reporter 04/24/08

email this story | Posted 04/24/08@07:31PM

Adding Up Losses From The Writers' Strike "On-location film, TV, commercials and other shoots fell 23% in the first quarter, the sharpest quarterly decline ever recorded."

Hollywood Reporter 04/24/08

email this story | Posted 04/24/08@07:20PM

CBC: We're Not Killing Classical! The program director at CBC Radio has heard about enough of accusations that the network is "abandoning" classical music. "Classical music will remain the predominant genre on Radio 2, available seven days a week at various times throughout the day. New Canadian compositions will be heard virtually every night on The Signal."

Toronto Star 04/24/08

email this story | Posted 04/24/08@05:53AM

Cannes Film Lineup Announced Among the surprises were eleventh-hour additions of "Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood, and Steven Soderbergh's two Che Guevara films. The Che films, "The Argentine" and "Guerrilla,"

Los Angeles Times 04/23/08

email this story | Posted 04/23/08@07:03PM

Blu-Ray Win Not Enough To Revive DVD Sales "Wholesale DVD revenue worldwide, for theatrical releases only, came in at $25 billion in 2006, dropped to $23.1 billion last year and will further decline to $21.4 billion this year."

Yahoo! (Reuters) 04/23/08

email this story | Posted 04/23/08@07:01PM

Are Comic Books Now A Sure Path To Filmdom? "If recent studio acquisitions are any evidence, then the fastest way to get a movie deal these days may just be to turn your next Big Idea into a graphic novel. In a faddish frenzy, no fewer than 22 film projects born of graphic novels or comics have been announced in the last six weeks."

Los Angeles Times 04/23/08

email this story | Posted 04/23/08@06:35AM