The Free Blockbuster movement slowly gained traction and eventually, more than 200 other community boxes had opened from Louisiana to Canada and even Britain — though it is unclear how many of them remain operational. - The New York Times
The news ends a deep and decades-long relationship between one of the world’s largest news organizations and one of the nation’s largest newspaper publishers. - The Wrap
"In the fourth quarter of 2023, the video service lagged Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. Yes, you read that right: The ancient big blue app grew faster than TikTok." How has this happened? Adulting, that's how. - Business Insider
Industry lobbyists, and the lawmakers on their side, insist that the subsidies create $6 or $7 of "economic activity" for each $1 of state expenditure or forgone revenue. Independent experts keep finding that state coffers get back between 15 and 35 cents for each of those dollars. - The New York Times
"It took hours for firefighters to get the blaze under control and several buildings near (Al-Ahram Studio) in Cairo's Giza district had to be evacuated. … The studio was founded in 1944. Several films and TV series were produced there and broadcast across the world." - BBC
"While the U.S. TV business has seen a sharp downturn, with a drop in the number of shows commissioned and broadcast and headline-making layoffs across the major studios, European TV production is still on the upswing, according to a new (industry) report." - The Hollywood Reporter
"Simply put, there’s no clear line between the state and society in China in the same way that there is in democracies. The Chinese Communist Party – which is synonymous with the Chinese state – both owns and is the nation. And that goes for private enterprises, too." - The Conversation
In a year where new content is trickling in, the cinema chain has turned to Blumhouse’s seemingly limitless horror library. Like A24’s “Lovers’ Series” in February, this one has some marketing power behind its (inaccurately titled) “Halfway to Halloween” push. - The New York Times
Then what happened to The Callahans and the Murphys? "Released in June 1927, the comedy initially received encouraging reviews.” Then things got ugly, and fast. - The New York Times
VFX is for a lot more than explosions. “For every Kraven the Hunter or Argylle, there’s a Ferrari, Maestro or Killers of the Flower Moon, movies with sophisticated visual effects that the filmmakers hope you’ll never realize was an effect at all." - The New York Times
"Javier Milei is forging ahead with his administration’s plans to defund the country’s film-TV institute INCAA, which will adversely impact national film festivals such as the Mar del Plata and federal aid for national film releases, state-run cinemas and film schools, among others." - Variety
Steve Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs banker who founded his own private equity firm after leaving Washington, says he's gathering a group of investors to buy the video app if the Senate passes the House bill requiring its current owner, the Beijing-based corporation ByteDance, to sell it. - AP
The legislation would just require the app's owner, the Chinese corporation ByteDance, to sell it to some other entity that isn't under the ultimate control of the Chinese Communist Party. ByteDance (and the Party) should be fine with selling TikTok for a few billion, shouldn't they? - New York Magazine (MSN)
“We’ve seen over the last few decades significant consolidation and a wave of mergers and acquisitions, not all of which have ultimately served the American public,” Khan tells The Hollywood Reporter. - The Hollywood Reporter
