Media

True? Film has always had marketing, PR, and of course ratings: “It would be a mistake to present the old gatekeepers in romantic colours compared to new technology companies. In both cases, we are talking about powerful institutions that define, control and manage the boundaries of what is art and culture.” – BBC

In a research lab at Penn State, “four pigs — Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony and Ivory — were trained to use an arcade-style joystick [with their snouts] to steer an on-screen cursor into walls. … And the pigs even continued playing when the food reward dispenser broke — apparently for the social contact.” – BBC

When the idea and the office of the president was regarded with a sort of reverence, presidential representations were more heroic, historian Dean J. Kotlowski writes, pointing to the “schmaltzy, character-themed biographies” of the 1930s through early ’60s. And in a sort of reversal, where a fictional representation led to a very nonfictional one, researchers Michael P. Rogin and Kathleen Moran note that the political film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington had a strong influence on the nation’s highest office. – JStor

“The new Netflix series Amend: The Fight for America, produced by Will Smith and Larry Wilmore, seeks to [teach] not through song, but extended, sleek, bingeable verve. … Amend, which focuses solely on the importance and liberties granted by the 14th Amendment, stretches across six hour-long episodes, each devoted to a different area of interest: citizenship, love, women’s rights, immigration, resistance to the amendment, and the Civil Rights Movement. Within these episodes are both broad historical touchstones and granular anecdotes, giving the series as a whole a sprawling reach.” – Mic

“Despite being indoors (a red flag), the sort of behavior engaged in at the movies is, relatively speaking, benign. Patrons who can and should wear a mask for the duration of their visit face the same direction and don’t chatter much. … [And] movie theaters in the age of the coronavirus have placed an almost disconcerting emphasis on safety.” And no one has found a case of COVID transmission directly traceable to a cinema. – The Atlantic

YouTube is planning an official rollout for “Applause,” a feature—already in testing—that lets viewers make cash payments to their favorite creators by initiating an on-screen clapping effect. Like existing features such as Super Chat, “it’s a token of my appreciation of some monetary value.” – Fast Company

Chloé Zhao came to L.A. from Beijing to finish high school and go to college, got a poli-sci degree from Mount Holyoke, went to NYU film school, and ended up making three feature films at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. One of those caught the eye of Frances McDormand — and now Nomadland is a major Oscar contender, Zhao has won more awards in a single season than any filmmaker in history, and she’s currently making a Marvel blockbuster. – New York Magazine

It wasn’t just because she likened being a conservative in America today to being a Jew in 1930s Germany on Instagram. “Carano had become a lightning rod among Star Wars fans and a headache for Lucasfilm, … [and] had repeatedly been warned by those around her about her social media behavior.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Ross fell under the director’s spell upon seeing Andrei Rublev in college. “The long pandemic months seemed a good time to burrow back into Tarkovsky’s world. Life was moving at a neo-medieval pace, and the aesthetic of slowness was all the more welcome in an age of frantic digital scissoring. I watched the films again … [and] I emerged with my admiration undiminished but my idolatry somewhat tempered.” – The New Yorker

“The entire structure of the traditional book-to-film deal has changed. Our authors are now at the cutting edge of those deals, in the selling of their work and as producers.” – Los Angeles Times

Stanfield says it’s not only therapy that has made the last year bearable. “The one good thing about this pandemic is being able to sit at home by yourself and deal with yourself and just your inner voice. And even though that’s annoying as hell, beautiful clarity comes out of it.” – Level

The new show demonstrates just how drastically far food shows have come – but reminds us of how far that had to be, especially when we can always rewatch Nadiya Hussain’s GBBO flavors making Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry squirm. “It’s hard to imagine that a show like Nadiya Bakes could have existed in the same way even just six years ago when Hussain first appeared on our television screens. Food media on both sides of the Atlantic has been aggressively white overall, with few people of color given the same opportunities as their white counterparts to be visible and excel. Even when ‘hybrid’ cuisine became trendy, it largely appeared to come from white chefs who were discovering ‘bold new flavors’ from outside their own experiences.” – Variety

Director Iram Parveen Bilal (I’ll Meet You There) explains: “I’m the daughter of a physicist mother and a chemistry professor father. … We were told from the get-go that education is your passport. And when I came to Caltech, I realized that even though I was good at science, it came naturally to me, it wasn’t ticking the passion clock. I wanted to interact with people. I was in the subbasement of an applied physics lab in Caltech, you know, streaming DNA strands on semiconductor chips.” Hence, film school. – NPR

Maybe, but then again, the form has a way of shifting with new information to meet the times. However, it will have to be something other than documentary: “Unless there emerges a bizarre public hunger for films in which tired parents try to connect their tablets to Google Classroom during a phone call with their boss, it is hard to think that anyone will want to watch the reality of this pandemic reflected back at them.” – The Guardian (UK)

Of course, we’ve all probably been watching quite a few things during the past year, but have those things included Academy-honored movies? Time to start, perhaps. – The Guardian (UK)

The state has issued $750,000 to seven stations annually since 2019. The funding, which is divided evenly among the stations, supports technology needs and operating expenses. It also covers program-related fees, production and distribution costs, and acquiring equipment. – Current

“I asked you to stop watching the show and thank God almighty for you, you did,” he told an audience in Austin. “You made that show worthless because without your eyes, it’s nothing. And you stopped watching it. They called me and I got my name back and I got my license back and I got my show back and they paid me millions of dollars.” – Variety

For several years in the 1950s, starting in 1952, Oscar night featured simultaneous gatherings in Los Angeles and New York. One can imagine something similar happening this year — maybe even including cities outside of the U.S. like London, Paris and Seoul, since the Academy’s membership is now truly international — to spare people from having to undertake long-distance travel and to allow for greater social distancing at each venue. – Hollywood Reporter

In a category that has historically overlooked female directors, this feels like progress. After all, only five women have ever been nominated for the best-director Oscar, and if Zhao, King, and Fennell all make it in, that number would nearly double in a single year. But look a little closer, and there’s still a pernicious double standard at play. – The New York Times

“Veteran producers Bruce Hendricks and Galen Walker have optioned the rights to the late Stanley Kubrick’s unmade film Lunatic At Large, and have plans to bring the film-noir storyline to the big screen. … The project was one of three film stories found in Kubrick’s archives after his passing.” Production is expected to start this fall. – The Hollywood Reporter