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- Disney Prepares Another Round Of Thousands Of Layoffs
Good Morning,
Disney is preparing layoffs that will reach thousands of employees across its TV networks and film studio; some managers have been told to find 20% in annual savings (Deadline). They follow 1,000 cuts in April and several hundred in July. So what’s ailing the Mouse?
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to raise California’s film and TV tax credit from $750 million to at least $1 billion a year, with new credits for actors’ pay that Georgia and New York already offer (Los Angeles Times). Los Angeles shoot days still fell nearly 5% from July to September.
This fall’s biggest new musicals are opening Off-Broadway because Broadway costs too much. Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen, a manga adaptation with the late Duncan Sheik’s last score, was capitalized at $5 million; its producer says the same show on 45th Street would need $18 to $22 million (NPR).
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s last major independent newspaper, will close its office on Nov. 9 after authorities blocked its websites, seized its printing house and shut its reader-donation system (Euronews).
Art Basel Paris closed two days early on Oct. 23, citing possible demonstrations, and the galleries say nobody asked them. A group representing more than a quarter of the fair’s exhibitors is demanding compensation and accusing organizers of “disrespect, even contempt” (Hyperallergic).
All of our stories below.
- The Latest Social Media Dance Craze Is Doing Traditional Ethnic Dance To A Hip-Hop Hit
Videographer James Fenwick runs the Born from Culture series, posting videos focusing on the world’s folk-dance traditions. In June, he released a video of Georgian dancers with music from the other Georgia, the Atlanta trap number “Mask Off.” When that went viral, traditional dance groups all over the world started following suit. – Dazed
- We Need To Reconsider The Notion Of Self
The empty-self metaphor has inspired a large following. These followers embrace an optimistic view in which human foibles can be readily vanquished through systematic manipulation of social environment. However alluring it may be, we suggest it is time to replace this Panglossian view with one that acknowledges the importance of enduring psychological structures. – Psyche
- Austin May Be Able To Boost Arts Funding, Thanks To Its New “Airbnb Tax”
“With the Austin Convention Center closed for reconstruction until 2029, the city faces years of diminished convention business and the hotel tax revenue it generates, portions of which fund programs supporting the arts. … But a surge in hotel taxes collected from short-term rentals is providing a financial cushion.” – KUT (Austin)
- AI Translations Have Gotten Very Good. But…
While AI translations are very fluent, fluency doesn’t equal accuracy. Even proficient bilinguals can overlook errors hidden under the surface. – The Conversation
- Disney Prepares To Cut Thousands Of Workers
According to sources, the new round of layoffs will be made across multiple divisions, including TV networks and the motion picture studio, at varying amounts. – Deadline
- French Galleries Accuse Art Basel Of Disrespect
In the letter addressed to the new director of Art Basel Paris, Karim Crippa, the association demanded “concrete proposals for compensating exhibitors,” stated that the galleries were never consulted about the event’s early closure, and accused organizers of “disrespect, even contempt,” according to Monopol. – Hyperallergic
- Clifford Odets, The Great Agitprop Playwright Of The 1930s, Is In The Spotlight Again
His most famous play, Waiting for Lefty, is getting a major Off-Broadway revival; Awake and Sing! is opening on Broadway next month; Golden Boy just finished a London run with movie star Josh O’Connor in the lead. Why is Odets having a moment now? Helen Shaw has some ideas. – The New York Times
- Why This Fall’s Big Musicals Are Opening Off-Broadway
The theaters are smaller. The tickets are lower, but you still often have big casts. You have to pay the musicians. And you may not have to make a million dollars to make your nut, but maybe you have to make half a million or 400 grand. That’s still a lot of money. – NPR
- Gavin Newsom Calls For $1 Billion Tax Incentives For Film Industry
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday called for a significant expansion of the state’s film and TV tax incentives in the face of mounting evidence that producers are fleeing California in search of cheaper locales. – Los Angeles Times
- Is It Time For A “Great Books” Revival?
What we are trying to do is not just help ground students—the large majority of them scientists and engineers in training—in a humanistic research program, but to identify irreplaceable ideas during a time of accelerated change. – The Atlantic
- The New Skydance-Paramount-Warner Bros. Behemoth Has An $80 Billion Debt Burden
“We’ve measured this incredibly carefully,’ Ellison said during a media event last month. ‘We absolutely have the ability to manage the debt and de-lever while investing for growth.’ But Skydance’s merger math doesn’t entirely check out for Wall Street.” – TheWrap (MSN)
- The Enduring Appeal Of Glass Art — New Again
The history, combined with the opportunity for hands-on experience, is fueling new exhibitions at museums across the United States that are exploring today’s complex scientific and social issues through the artistry’s lens. – The New York Times
- The Pied Piper Of Male Dance
When Adrian Mitchell returned to the school in 2022, this time to teach, there were four boys. But in a few short years Mitchell expanded those numbers tenfold, to 40. All four in the original group went on to top ballet schools, professional ballet companies — or both. – The New York Times
- Why Culture Seems So Generic Now
“What we see in front of us used to be culturally diverse. Now it is culturally generic. Most of what we see is the big chains we see everywhere,” she said. “It creates a sense of placelessness. We could be anywhere.” – The New York Times
- Russia’s Last Major Independent Newspaper Shuts Down
“’We have been killed,’ reads a statement from the editorial team behind the Russian independent news outlet Novaya Gazeta, as it announced on Friday that it would be ceasing operations. … ‘The newspaper no longer exists. The Russian authorities and the Russian security services have forced our editorial team to cease its operations.’” – Euronews
- Can Australia’s Biggest, Most Expensive Cultural Project In Decades Live Up To Expectations (And Its Price Tag)?
Paramatta Powerhouse, a new art and science museum in Sydney’s booming western suburbs, has cost roughly AU$915 million (US$639 million) and has been touted as western Sydney’s equivalent of the Opera House. Is that too much to expect, especially after the bumpy road to the museum’s completion? – The Guardian
- Prosecutors Reopen Investigation Into 1975 Murder Of Filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini
“The case has been reopened after a lawyer, Stefano Maccioni, filed a petition saying that recently discovered archive footage and other evidence shows that the rent boy who initially took the rap was not alone on the night of the murder.” – ANSA (Italy)
- Italy’s Favorite Modern Crime Novel Has Been Made Into An Opera (A Hit One, No Less)
Romanzo Criminale, written by Giancarlo De Cataldo and published in 2002, is so popular that its four protagonists are household names. It’s already been adapted into a successful feature film and a major TV series; now there’s an opera version, with score by Oscar-winning composer Nicola Piovani (Life Is Beautiful). – The New York Times
- US Embassy Warns Of Planned Terrorist Attack At Moscow Museum; Teenaged Suspect Arrested
On Saturday the US embassy in Moscow issued a security alert about a “credible threat of a mass casualty event” at the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve, a popular palace and park complex. Russia’s FSB has arrested one suspect, a teenager who is a Russian citizen. – Al Jazeera
- Amazon Says Prime Video is Now Profitable In Its Own Right
CEO Andy Jassy says the division has a revenue run rate in the “tens of billions” of dollars. – TheWrap
- UK’s Collins Dictionary Chooses “Mogging” As Word Of The Year (What’s Mogging?)
“The copywriter Rachel Quin said the term describes making someone or something look inferior in terms of appearance, confidence or status. Believed to originate as a shortening of ‘AMOG’ (alpha male of the group), the word had first appeared in bodybuilding culture around 2016 before spreading through online communities.” – The Guardian
- The Enduring Appeal Of Literary Locations
Hotels are particularly adaptable settings for fiction. They bring strangers together in temporary communities, creating opportunities for encounters, misunderstandings and suspicion. In detective fiction, they can also provide a ready-made sense of enclosure: a place where characters are brought together and escape becomes difficult. – The Conversation
- Italian Police Locate $200M Of Stolen Art Using AI
The Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Italy’s art crime squad, has been using an AI algorithm to identify stolen artworks and artifacts since 2023. The platform they use is called SWOADS—or Stolen Works of Art Detection System—and was developed by Salvatore Rapicavoli, an IT engineer who joined the art crime team in 2023. – ARTnews
- Is Curiosity A Good Idea?
Our curiosity may be or could be one of the best things about us (though when we describe someone as a curious person we can sometimes mean that they are a bit odd, as though we admire curiosity but it makes us uneasy). – London Review of Books
- Oldest Recording Of Someone Speaking Creole Was Discovered
“The moment I heard these recordings, I knew that they would drastically change our understanding of this language,” Dr. Mayeux said. His research findings were published in the journal “Language Documentation and Description.” – The New York Times
- Kennedy Center Leaders Threatened Payroll Over Trump Naming, Lawmaker Alleges
Kennedy Center leaders jeopardized the institution’s operations by tying millions of dollarsin funding to keeping President Donald Trump’s name on its building, a Democratic congresswoman who serves on its board alleges in a court brief filed Friday. – Washington Post
- AI Has Thrown The Publishing World Into Chaos
Book publishing houses have also been inundated with AI writing, and the industry is scrambling to respond. “There is a high level of concern and I think maybe anxiety among editors,” Friedman said. “They’re not sure how to detect it.” – WNG
- Author Peter May, 74
Mr. May, a prolific and inventive author of nearly 30 thrillers, including “The Blackhouse,” which would become a global best seller and would lift the fortunes of his earlier work, died on Sept. 25 at his home in Gassin, a village in southeastern France, near Saint Tropez. He was 74. – The New York Times
- Anti-Trans Political Rhetoric Is Harming Nonbinary And Trans Actors Too
Even actors like Elliot Page and Asia Kate Dillon have said it’s harder to find work in a world where roles for them are, according to them, vanishing. – CBC
- The Site Where Modern British Ballet Was Born
The Georgian style Festival Theatre – now the Cambridge Buddhist Centre – had recently undergone some intense architectural changes when its owner invited future Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois to choreograph there. – BBC (Yahoo)
- How A Quick-Thinking Photographer Turned A Traffic Jam Into An Instantly Iconic Image
“As we’re all waiting for traffic to clear, I could feel the motion of the bridge, slightly pulsating up and down. Curiosity got to many people, who got out of their cars to see if they could see anything.” – San Francisco Chronicle
- Serial Fiction Is Having A Moment. Again.
“’Today’s newspapers have fallen out of the habit of rewarding their readers with chunks of fiction. … So it has fallen to us to pick up the slack.’ But it seems worth asking why ‘chunks’ of fiction are their own reward.” – LitHub
- Ireland Has Become One Of Hollywood’s Go-To Global Production Hotspots
“Ireland increasingly has become a destination for American movies, television series and the once-quintessentially L.A. creation: the game show.” – Los Angeles Times
- Producer And Director Michael Mann Accidentally Shoots Himself At A Gun Range
“A representative for Mann said in a statement on Sunday that the director’s weapon had ‘accidentally discharged while holstered.’ The incident, the representative said, resulted in a ‘superficial injury.’” – Los Angeles Times