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Donald Trump Threatens To Sue Makers Of Biopic “The Apprentice.” They Aren’t Terribly Worried.

Trump spokesperson: "We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers. This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies." Director Ali Abbasi: "Everybody talks about him suing a lot of people. They don’t talk about his success rate, though." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

OpenAI Hits “Pause” On A ChatGPT Voice After Scarlett Johansson Points Out How Much It Sounds Like “Her”

The actress, who voiced the title character of the Spike Jonze movie about a guy falling in love with a chatbot, says OpenAI approached her last fall asking permission to use her voice for one of their bots. She declined, but says the company created one that sounds "eerily similar." - AP

It’s Not ‘TV Week’ Anymore

Netflix and Prime joined broadcast channels for the traditional week of wooing advertisers - and for good reason: “Streaming video now makes up 37% of U.S. television viewing, better than either broadcast or cable TV, according to Nielsen data.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The Academy Museum Took Heat For Ignoring The Jewish History Of Many Founders Of Hollywood

And now it’s trying to fix that mistake with a new exhibition. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

Happy One-Year Anniversary Of The Hollywood Strikes

Some writers and actors feel a sense of community and empowerment; some are noting that the slowdown that began with the pandemic is more full-scale after last year’s slowdown. And, of course, the streamers are still in trouble. - The Guardian (UK)

What’s The Sudden Deal With Nuns In Popular Culture?

“If the aesthetic interest in nuns is an enduring one, it’s also true that every few years, like fashion trends or viral flus, nuns have a particularly concentrated cultural moment. We’re living in one now.” - The New York Times

Hollywood Has Been Shortchanging Its Stunt Actors For, Oh, About A Century

Stunt workers’ tough situation: “Their work is often flashy, which has contributed over time to the misconception of them as daredevils, making it hard for them to be taken seriously. And they’re often in the spotlight only when something goes wrong. They’re otherwise supposed to remain invisible." - The Atlantic

Does The ‘Real-Life Martha’ Of Baby Reindeer Have An Actual Case Against Netflix?

For one thing, “the U.K. is notoriously more favorable to libel plaintiffs than the U.S., where the First Amendment protects a broad range of insulting and offensive speech." - Variety

The End Of The Movies

Netflix isn’t about flicks anymore. Nor are most of the other streaming services. Instead, they're all about shows - scripted, reality, and live. - Wired

Where Is The Village Voice For The 2020’s?

By rejecting the distinction between observer and observed, subject and author (at least to a degree, and more so in the arts and culture back of the paper rather than the newsy, investigative front of it), the Voice was a dispatch from a world unknown to most, penned by writers who were themselves characters in it. - Jacobin

How The Language Of TV Is Shaping How We See Ourselves

You see a lot of this on TikTok now: videos that describe ordinary life using the language of television. Scroll through, and you’ll find users charting the different “seasons” of their lives or highlighting the emergence of plot “arcs.” - The New York Times

Why Apple’s “Crush Creativity” Ad Is So Offensive

Contrary to the walkback last week by Apple marketing communications vice president Tor Myhren — “We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry” — the commercial for the new iPad Pro hit a much tougher mark by being both terrible and honest about Apple’s vision of the future. - Chicago Tribune

NPR Adds An New, Extra Layer Of Editing, And Journalists There Are, Um, Concerned

Many of the network's reporters believe that this extra layer, called the "Backstop," was put in place only because of right-wing pressure over allegations of bias and will only cause bottlenecks in the reporting process. They're even more concerned because the execs won't say who's paying for it. - The New York Times

How YouTube Became Most-Watched

YouTube is consistently the most watched streaming service in the U.S. on a TV in the U.S. every month, even beating Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video since February 2023, according to Nielsen. The service accounts for nearly 10% of television viewing, the data firm said. - Los Angeles Times

Even With Big Stars, Some Indie Movies Are Having Trouble Getting U.S. Distribution

"Projects that would previously have flown off the shelves domestically just don’t have the same immediate pulling power. And according to one source, it’s the lack of post-theatrical window deals with broadcasters and streamers that’s slowing things down." - Variety

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