Steve Almond talks to author Justine Gubar (Fanaticus: Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan), whose thesis is that “just about anyone can turn into a rioter.” (Even Vancouverites.)
Category: AUDIENCE
Is Binge-Viewing Going Out Of Style?
Hulu’s head of content: “With all of our new originals, we will release episodes weekly. … We want to give viewers the opportunity to discover their favorite shows every week. Like you, we value the shared experience and the joy of the watercooler that is television.”
Committing Fiber Arts (AKA Knitting) In Public As A Radical Act
“People consistently underestimate the power of knitting,” says Sewell. “They don’t recognize its radical properties. They’re always surprised when they talk to us about what why we’re knitting, like, ‘Is she talking about racism right now? Did she really just say ‘police brutality?'”
Honoring Community Theatre
“We are living in an age when we get to choose our communities. I could be a sports fan, or a gamer, or build houses for Habitat for Humanity, or a zillion other things. But my real friends, my chosen family, my loved ones, they almost all do theatre. Many of them get paid. Many of them don’t. The ones that don’t make theatre are board members, boosters, donors, and most importantly, an audience.”
Long-Form Television Like ‘Breaking Bad’ And ‘The Wire’ Is Boring And Ruining Everything
“Soon, everything else in your life – theatre-going, museum visits, eating, breathing – has vanished in your commitment to seven more hours of following the ins and outs of petty crime in Baltimore or the adulterous lives of slow-emoting ad men in 60s New York.”
The Marketing Company That Knows How To Sell Movies In China
“Film companies pay for outdoor banners and signs, advertise online, team up with local promotional partners and, increasingly, call a company with enormous reach that few people outside of China have ever heard of: Mtime.”
The Broad Museum’s Storage Vault Will Open (Some Of) The Unhung Collection To Visitors
“The vault was conceived as the heart of the $140-million museum. It allows the Broad to store or exhibit 99% of its nearly 2,000-object collection on-site, where it’s all surprisingly accessible to the staff. That’s a game-changer logistically for the museum, as planning exhibits and lending works to other institutions will be far easier, giving the collection more international play.”
The New CEO Of The Pittsburgh Symphony Has To Confront Attendance And Budget Issues
“Pittsburgh Symphony projects it will run another million-dollar-plus budget deficit this season, and has seen ticket sales fall to 50 percent for the classical subscription series and to 54 percent for the Pops. The symphony’s last balanced budgets were for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, before the financial sector meltdown.”
Indian YouTube Is Exploding In Popularity, Making Stars Of Unlikely Comedians And Vloggers
“According to the India Times, there’s a very real possibility India will have the largest number of Facebook users of any country by 2017. Also, WhatsApp’s user base broke 70 million in November of last year. That’s a lot of people sharing content. Put those figures next to the fact that between 2011 and 2013, Indian online video consumption doubled. According to a YouTube spokesperson, total watch time in India has grown 80% from 2014 to 2015. During that same time period, the amount of videos being uploaded in India has doubled.”
No Disrespect Intended: How A Play-reading Event Grew Into A Big Misunderstanding
“Our intention was almost the opposite of what it has been perceived to be. It was out of our respect for
playwrights that we wanted to be clear about what we were and were not undertaking. Obviously, that attempt at clarity was a dismal and embarrassing failure. Disrespect was not remotely intended.”