To survey the film and television industry today is to witness multiple existential crises. Many of them point to a larger trend: of Hollywood divesting from its own future, making dodgy decisions in the short term that whittle down its chances of long-term survival. - The New Yorker
The Lebanese culture minister said, "The film goes against moral and religious values in Lebanon, as it encourages perversity and gender transformation while calling for the rejection of patriarchy and ridiculizing the role of mothers." Kuwaiti authorities banned the film to protect "public ethics and social traditions." - Variety
There clearly is no buyer like Apple, which is sitting on $62 billion in cash and cash equivalents and has a $2.8 trillion market cap. And while it may be very true that Apple doesn’t want to buy a studio, maybe it would want to buy this studio. - The Hollywood Reporter
"The Pandawara group ... was formed in 2022 after flooding caused by rivers clogged with rubbish damaged their homes. … On TikTok, their profile – @pandawaragroup – contains over 100 short videos of their river and beach cleanups, earning them millions of views and totaling over 100 million likes." - The Guardian
Hailing the move as “a major shift in an industry that has largely remained non-union since VFX was pioneered during production of the first Star Wars films in the 1970s”, the IATSE said a supermajority of Marvel’s 50-plus VFX crew had signed authorisation cards. - The Guardian
The fact that Barbie is so successful means that, for a huge percentage of its audience, this will be their first cinema visit since 2019. And four years is easily long enough to forget some of the rules. - The Guardian
“They pay this small fee to lots of shows and throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Gilmore became this runaway hit for them and we don’t share in any of that success." - Rolling Stone
Earnings for the second quarter hit $8.6 million, compared to a loss of $121.6 million in the comparable period of 2022, the company reported on Tuesday. It also saw a 12.2 percent gain in attendance year-over-year. - The Hollywood Reporter
"Despite limited availability, Barbie has quickly become widely discussed on Chinese social media, at one point even topping searches on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. It has an 8.3 rating on the movie rating site Douban, higher than any other currently showing live-action feature." - The New York Times
With no more new clues being written during the work stoppage, the game show will re-shuffle and re-use answers and questions from earlier seasons. Also from previous seasons will be the contestants: players who lost their first games will get a second chance. - Variety
George Joe consulted family to help with accuracy, since they all lived through the time and place depicted on Dark Winds. Then, language: "On the northeast side of the reservation, the Navajo word for 'snow' or 'coffee' is different from the other side of the reservation." - Los Angeles Times
"Writers’ rooms, in fact, were never written into any WGA contract, seemingly based on an assumption that business would continue as usual. But Netflix, perhaps because it was coming from outside the industry, had no interest in business as usual. So it discarded the old norms." - The Atlantic
"Foreign film and TV shoots in Canada have ground to a halt. While domestic production continues, union leaders say that eventually many of the concerns driving the U.S. strikes will need to be negotiated here as well, albeit in the context of the Canadian system." - CBC
"Barbie’s astounding success puts in a new category, which, until now, had been dominated by the likes of James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan—the richest filmmakers in the world." Next up for her: Narnia. - Fast Company
Can the actors' unions negotiate protections against things that have already happened? "It’s not a question of technology. ... It’s a question of who has the power in the relationship." - The New York Times
