Despite the $1.4bn success of Barbie, last year’s top 100 films saw just 30 feature a female lead or co-lead, the worst result since 2014 according to a new study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. - The Guardian
Though this is arguably a great time for SoCal's cineastes, there's been trouble sustaining big events: Outfest collapsed last year, and the Los Angeles Film Festival closed back in 2018. So indie-film presenter Mezzanine and streaming platform Mubi have organized the new Los Angeles Festival of Movies. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
The TaxiFilmFest is in part a protest against the august Berlin Film Festival, currently in full swing, which signed an exclusive agreement with Uber to ferry participants between cinemas. But it's also a celebration of "the taxicab's iconic place in the urban landscape." - The New York Times
According to Ford’s internal data gathered from some of its newer vehicles, less than 5 percent of all in-car listening is to AM radio. Which is perhaps why Ford decided last year to drop AM from all of its vehicles, not just EVs. - The Atlantic
On top of fewer shows and virtually no pilots, the available acting gigs pay less than they used to amid rising cost of living, talent sources say. - Deadline
People showed up straight from college, because working at the Voice had always been their dream, despite substandard wages and word rates, paltry expense budgets, and barely habitable offices. - Village Voice
WJLX (1240 AM) in Jasper has an FM-frequency repeater, but without the AM station's tower providing the original signal and programming, the repeater was useless. Then an exec from the country's largest radio broadcaster, iHeartMedia, came to the rescue, offering use of the HD3 signal from WDXB in Birmingham. - Inside Radio
"Showmax — (a South African company) spun out of Africa’s largest entertainment (conglomerate), MultiChoice, in 2015 — had 2.1 million subscribers on the continent at the end of November 2023, as compared to 1.8 million for Netflix. … Showmax’s market share rose to nearly 39%, while Netflix dropped to 33.5%." - Rest of World
"Many in Jasper, a city of about 14,000 (located) 40 miles northwest of Birmingham, fear the culprits have taken more than a heap of steel. Listeners describe WJLX as a trusted source …, breaking through the noise of a cluttered (media) landscape ... with something that felt distinctly theirs." - The New York Times
Along with making access to the two platforms comparatively cheaper than buying separate subscriptions, the partnership would help Comcast and Paramount “produce significant cost savings — from spending on programming to marketing.” - The Verge
The Annies hand out prizes in animation for series and film - and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse cleaned up, beating The Boy and the Heron to best picture and winning six other awards. - Los Angeles Times
Randolph started her career in London’s West End. After she won her BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Holdovers, she said backstage, “You guys taught me the classics, and I'm obsessed with Pinter and all that stuff." - BBC
And it can thank streaming for that: "With streamers raising prices and adding commercials, maybe the urgency of watching something as it’s happening has the juice to bring people back to broadcast.” - Wired
