Most people who write for the internet have had the experience of publishing something that escapes the bounds of one’s usual audience and goes viral. The experience can be mesmerizing. - Slate
“We have a bunch of A.I.s that are creating a bunch of entertainment that people are kind of OK with.” In their attempts to push back, the writers have what a lot of other white-collar workers don’t: a labor union. - The New York Times
But you probably will. "Contentious labor talks in Hollywood are rarely settled without the pressure of a contract expiration deadline bearing down. The stakes and the tension feel especially heightened this time around." - Variety
"It’s the first topic that comes up in every meeting, every phone call, and everyone claims to have their own inside source about how long a strike will go on and whether the directors and actors will also go out, which would truly be a disaster." - The New York Times
"Investors are no longer sure streaming is a great business; the streamers are searching desperately for new ways to make money. The golden age of high-flying, big-spending streaming seems to be over." - The Verge
Bel Powley, who's playing Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank's family: "I’d shied away from second world war stories – because it’s always all about men. ... So another thing that excited me about A Small Light was it’s completely told from a woman’s perspective." - The Observer (UK)
"Potential financiers would ask if she could make the central family a white one. Others would have preferred something a little bit less action and more art house. Later, the emphasis on comedy became a problem." - The New York Times
It's also about artificial intelligence in the writers' room, and whether writers will be replaced by programs - the so-called Nora Ephron problem: "Hollywood writers have grown increasingly anxious as ChatGPT has become adept at mimicking the style of prolific authors." - The New York Times
Eva Green won her $1 million fee after she "sued White Lantern Film, saying she was owed the sum after the film collapsed amid a bitter dispute with producers" - who claimed it was her fault. - BBC
"After talks Saturday in the AMPTP’s Sherman Oaks offices, the two sides have scheduled further negotiations for Sunday in hopes of sealing a deal to avert a potentially devastating strike next week" - but the sides still aren't close. - Deadline
David Choe's acting isn't bad. But "instead of being able to enjoy its cathartic portrayals of Asian American rage, I found myself disturbed every time Isaac appeared onscreen, wondering how much of the character’s aggression was a performance and how much of it was channeled from Choe’s documented misogynoir." - HuffPost
Clubhouse, the live audio app that once drew big buzz and interest in a multi-billion-dollar takeover, is “resetting” and letting go of 50% of its staff of a few dozen workers. - Deadline
Instead of embodying the mainstream, twentieth-century independent filmmaking formed a crucial alternative to it—a virtual counter-history of cinema. A list of the best of these movies reveals the exclusions and suppressions that many of the prime artistic voices of filmmaking endured in the era of studio hegemony. - The New Yorker
More than 30 stations have announced so far that they will no longer use Twitter. Some station leaders say they made the decision to show solidarity with NPR. - Current
"(Richard Sharp) quit Friday after a report found he failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest over his role in arranging ... a line of credit (for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson) weeks before he was appointed to the BBC post on the government's recommendation." - AP
