“The foreign language nomination committee for the Oscars isn’t the U.N. Security Council, but each year at this time it must wade through global politicking, diplomatic challenges and sometimes hard-to-fathom national preferences as it selects five nominees from the offerings presented by countries around the world.” Some of the choices are unusual – excellent films get passed up while dogs are allowed to bark. So, predictably, there are controversies. “Many of this year’s 54 entries have been bizarre or even difficult to watch.”
Tag: 02.07.03
A £250 Million Film Studio? Who Wants That?
In an effort to bring film production to Scotland, a group has proposed a £250 million plan to build a studio complex “comprising up to 14 soundstages, an extensive back lot and the largest external water tank in the world.” But the plan has been denounced by residents nearby as “a smokescreen to allow an exclusive housing and leisure development to be built on prime, green-belt land.”
You Can Do That On TV?
“Everywhere you look on prime-time television, there is language and behavior that would have been unthinkable just a few short seasons ago. But the truth is, while the avalanche of sleaze alone may seem major to the casual observer, it’s actually just a small part of what TV insiders regard as a wholesale reevaluation of the way TV does business. The only guarantee at the moment is that more changes are on the way.”
Opera Australia Survey: Old Audiences Are Different From New Audiences
After Opera Australia ran up a $2 million debt and botched the PR over not renewing director Simone Young’s contract, the company commissioned a study of audience concerns. Among the findings: “The subscriber’s enthusiasm to “frock up” to go to the opera creates problems. ‘It is about a sense of occasion, as well as going to the theatre. But this cuts across new audience members who might feel intimidated because they can’t pronounce the titles and are not sure how to dress.”
Who Gets To Decide The WTC Job
The competition between the two remaining design proposals for the World Trade Center site is also a contest between who gets to decide the shape of the project. “Two views of what comes next are now contending, pitting Roland W. Betts, a director of the development corporation with strong personal ties to the White House, against Charles A. Gargano, the state’s top economic development official, some Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executives, developers and others.”