"(The 41-year-old LGBTQ+ festival's) dramatic reversal of fortune began with a series of clashes between board members and the group's former executive director over spending decisions that allegedly deepened financial woes faced by the organization, according to a Times review of internal emails, board-meeting minutes and interviews." - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
"Attorney general (Letitia James) filed suit Wednesday against SiriusXM, accusing the satellite radio and streaming service of making it intentionally difficult for its customers to cancel their subscriptions." - AP
"Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish (for several hours) on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger, Axios has learned from multiple sources." - Axios
Notwithstanding the big bets on the continent made by Netflix and Showmax, "multiple producers and executives in countries including Nigeria and Kenya … said African producers in 2023 had to adapt to tighter production budgets driven by harsh macroeconomic conditions, and they expect more of the same in 2024." - Semafor
According to a 2019 Deloitte report, India has the largest film industry in the world in terms of films produced each year. The industry employs 850,000 people. As AI tools get sharper and the internet is filled with uncanny deepfake videos of popular Indian stars. - BBC
“Given that we lost 50% of production time in 2023, the anticipated 5% year-on-year decrease in 2023 is not indicative of a declining interest in cinema, but simply a direct consequence of limited product availability. In fact, as July 2023 marked a record-breaking month at the global box office." - Deadline
"It’s a gentle, enjoyably melancholy story, twee but not damnably so — but something else stands out. Though set in the near-future, Her captures Obama-era techno-optimism better than any other movie. It’s a time capsule, preserving dreams about the future that appear more naive the further we get from the 2010s." - Wired
Shows about struggling, intrepid women are doing well. So are zombies, devils, and serial killers. Spanish-language series are major hits, and, as writer Lili Loofbourow put it, "We knew K-dramas were a phenomenon, but this is ridiculous." What aren't doing as well as expected? Comedy specials. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Disney in 2019 was hit with a suit accusing it of “rampant pay discrimination.” The case cleared a major hurdle Dec. 8 when a judge certified a diverse class of employees, who work across the company’s movie production arm, record labels, theme parks and home distribution subsidiaries, among various other units. - The Hollywood Reporter
Recent Disney films like the animated “Strange World,” with its gay teenage protagonist, have become cultural flash points. But “Pocahontas” prompted a full-blown fracas. - The New York Times
It seems odd to think that in a year with two massive strikes and 20 fewer movies released than in 2019, the industry might be looking profitable. But the "scheduling" of Christmas and New Year's has theatre owners stressed. - Variety
Who could have predicted that on Netflix, Ginny & Georgia's numbers would be so far ahead of The Witcher - or The Crown? (Anyone who remembers the Nielsens from the first age of Prestige TV, of course.) - The Verge
"It's really common to see violent scenes, ... but as soon as sex comes up, that becomes a really big complicated issue, whereas we're so desensitized to everything else." - CBC
VHS tapes are back, baby. And DVDs, Blu-Rays, cassette tapes, essentially anything that a streaming corporation can't surveill - or suddenly yank away. - Washington Post
