Who’s The Next (Er, First) Woman Director To Go From An Indie To A Film With A $100 Million Budget?

Not all of the directors in this piece agree, but at least one thinks it might happen soon: “I think right now is a very encouraging time because doors are being opened and people are realizing that women are powerful and we have a right to be here and we can tell really good stories. That’s always been the case, but I think now people are really, fully believing in women.”

Were The ‘In Cold Blood’ Murders Contract Hits?

Wait, what? Convicted murderer Richard Hickok left behind an unpublished memoir that claimed a man named “Roberts” contracted the hits. It’s probably not true, but … “Documents on file at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka and the New York Public Library, along with letters of Mr. Capote and interviews with people who knew Mr. Nations, suggest that Kansas prison and law-enforcement officials sought to thwart the Hickock/Nations book while enabling Mr. Capote’s.”

Should Every Day Be ‘Baby Day’ At The Theatre?

Perhaps. Check out Belfast’s Young at Art theatre festival to see what it could be like instead of what theatre often is like. “Parenthood can leave even the most ardent theatregoers feeling unwelcome as theatres seldom court families, often seeing prams and young children as a burden not a blessing. Too often theatres present themselves as grownup spaces, cut off from everyday life.”

Disney’s Live-Action Movies Are Very, Very Successful – Including For Their Actors

The studio may be cheap with its actors about some things (stories abound), but “with such past box-office winners in its fold including Cinderella ($544 million) and Jungle Book ($967 million), stars are clamoring to sign on for the studio’s live-action offerings.” This weekend’s huge take for the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” may only accelerate that trend.

Several Key Republicans In Congress Are Not OK With Cutting The NEA Or NEH

This is probably not the last word, but GOPers in important positions don’t think this is a good plan. And, despite Pat Buchanan’s glee at the budget cuts, “The contours of the political battle itself have changed since those earlier fights in the 1980s and ’90s. The arguments then were over ideology, taste, free speech and the size of government; today they are about economic investment, federal priorities and how people feel about Mr. Trump remaking America to his liking.”

What Happened To One Muralist’s Piece In Oklahoma City, And What That Says About The Public Art World

Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh writes on Instagram, “My America Is Black mural was taken down in Oklahoma City because, despite having permission to install the work from the building owner, all murals in OKC must go through a proposal process and be approved by the OKC Arts Commission. The OKC Arts Commission has 15 commissioners. 14 of which are white. 11 of which are men.”