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Drew Barrymore’s Show Is Going Ahead Without Guild Writers

She writes, "I want to be there to provide what writers do so well, which is a way to bring us together or help us make sense of the human experience." What that has to do with writers and actors on strike, no one knows (but the writers are picketing). - Vulture

How To Make The Past Look Like The Past

Set designers say sledgehammers are important - and don't forget eBay. - The New York Times

Studio Ghibli’s Miyazaki Flunks Retirement, Again

He started saying he'd retire before Gen-Z was born - and his new film, The Boy and the Heron, cements the feeling of hope from his fans. - The Verge

The Writers Union Thinks Maybe It Can Wedge In Where Streamers Mess Up

That is, hey, the WGA is totally open to new deals with studios who think Netflix is hurting them. - Washington Post

Filmmaker Agnieszka Holland Threatens To Sue Poland’s Justice Minister

"Controversy over Venice (Festival) title Green Border continues to heat up as director Agnieszka Holland gave an ultimatum to Poland's Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro following his comments about her film. … She is demanding a public apology and payment to The Association of Children of the Holocaust in Poland." - Variety

What It Takes To Write A TV Show: That’s What The Strike Is About

“I fear a future in which they can only hire one writer. They’ll have an AI, you know, churn out a script based on a large language model. … And then they’ll pay one writer to rewrite it and make it human.” - Washington Post

Rotten Tomatoes Has Never Been More Important — Or More Compromised

"Now, it can make or break them — with implications for how films are perceived, released, marketed, and possibly even green-lit. The Tomatometer may be the most important metric in entertainment, yet it's also erratic, reductive, and easily hacked." Here's how it got that way. - New York Magazine

Roku To Lay Off 10% Of Its Staff And Write Off $65 Million

"Roku will cut more than 300 staffers … as the streaming-platform company continues its battle to control costs. In addition, Roku will remove certain licensed and owned content from its platform as part of a 'strategic review of its content portfolio,' resulting in an impairment charge of up to $65 million." - Variety

Warner Bros. Discovery Says Strikes Will Cost It Half A Billion Dollars

"The company said in a regulatory filing that it now expects 2023 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be between $10.5 billion and $11 billion, down from $11-to-$11.5 billion. … Warner Bros. Discovery owns HBO and Max, CNN, TNT and a host of other entertainment outlets." - AP

How The TV Industry Was Broken By Streaming

Streaming provided an explosion of opportunity at first, but profits dried up along with the pool of potential subscribers. The dual strike is happening in part because companies focused on cost-cutting measures like shorter seasons and smaller writers rooms. - Washington Post

Confessions Of A Netflix DVD-Holdout

"I stream plenty of movies, and listen to most of my music on Spotify. The real reason I stuck it out was the queue. Netflix allows DVD subscribers to save titles to a list of films, which are then sent in the order in which you added them. I’ve grown very attached." - The Atlantic

Cable Company Admits Cable TV Business Is Broken

Cable TV has become too expensive for consumers and providers, Charter Communications said in an 11-page presentation to investors on Friday, adding that cord-cutters and rising fees are contributing to a “vicious video cycle.” - The New York Times

Russia’s Propaganda Movie About The Ukraine War Is A Big Ol’ Box Office Flop

"Set to a budget of 200 million rubles ($2.05m), The Witness has grossed less than 14 million rubles ($143,000) in its first two weeks, with viewers across the country reporting empty cinema halls." - The Observer (UK)

How Authors Are Being Influenced By Their Fan Communities

I reminded them that I was older than their dads, but they didn’t mind, and I became a fusion of agony uncle, village witch doctor and fly on the wall. I witnessed their dramas, and learned the minutiae of their lives. - The Guardian

Using AI Animation To Depict Real-Life Crimes

A host and producer of a Norwegian true-crime documentary series write about how and why, instead of the customary practice of using actors to recreate events, they used generative AI software to create animated video. - International News Media Association

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