“The wildfires added anxiety to filmmakers, performers, crew members and others in the industry who have already been worried about Hollywood productions leaving Los Angeles.” - NPR
Especially when they’re Black. Why? Diversity syndrome, "a cultural condition where the ‘otherness’ of an author is elevated over the impact of their work, to the detriment of the author, their work, and their audiences.” - LitHub
We won’t see the Academy’s official nominations until January 19 to give voters more time amid the fires in Los Angeles, but if it were up to The Observer’s critics, Nickel Boys, Anora, The Substance, and even Dev Patel’s Monkey Man would be top contenders. - The Observer (UK)
Unwelcome back, bad old days: “Several works by photographer Sally Mann displayed at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth were reportedly removed following Texas Republican officials’ calls for an investigation into her artworks.” - Hyperallergic
“‘It’s staggering and heartbreaking — I don’t know any other way to put it,’ said Ken Bernstein, principal city planner at Los Angeles City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources. ‘This is widespread destruction of significant architecture and places that are cherished in our communities.’”- Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
That’s mere months after his surprise departure from the NY Phil. The Houston Symphony board president: "No one wants to work in an environment where they feel like they either can’t be successful, or they’re not trusted or they’ve got somebody looking over their shoulder.” - Associated Press
“The buzz around her latest novel has drawn new attention to her back catalogue around the world,” and that’s obviously great for her, and her wider community. “In Australia, Indigenous people are often spoken for or about, but rarely listened to, she says.” - The Guardian (UK)
“The glitziest awards bodies have all overlooked Jean-Baptiste thus far—although, in a rare moment of unanimity, the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics all awarded top acting honors.” - Slate (MSN)
“Having lived through more than 50 years of civil war in her native country, and having witnessed the fallout of that conflict in the displacement of millions of people, and in endemic political corruption and environmental destruction, she has watched those tragic patterns being replayed." - The Observer (UK)
Stiller, who’s spent his entire life around Hollywood, says, "It’s kind of true that everybody will say yes and it doesn’t mean yes. It means no or let me think about it — more than ever, honestly. It’s a very tough environment now to get things made.” - The New York Times
“What we have at present is a rather stark hierarchy of heritage. Buildings and artefacts are granted high levels of safeguarding. Yet culturally important landscapes, trees and rivers are left relatively undefended. Why the lack of equivalence?” - The Observer (UK)
“Working as a lawyer taught me how much can turn on a single word. I was always too clumsy to actually be a scientist – I was awful at labs – but ... I care a lot about my writing being clear, accessible, and precise.” - Irish Times
“It’s hard to think of a year more stocked with major female contenders than this one. At one point, it seemed like there were nearly a dozen plausible nominees for only five spots.” - Vulture
“The argument really felt like a national security case and a First Amendment case walk into a bar. There’s two totally different cases, and you could feel everybody toggling back and forth, depending on which of those they thought they were going to win in the moment.” - Slate
