Sure, Netflix is developing more interactive content, but Netflix is far from alone. A new game, or perhaps it’s an “interactive media experience,” aspires to do something slightly different. “The nine or so hours of intimately shot footage — all the filmed scenes are framed to look as if people are talking via a smartphone or a webcam — span two years in the characters’ lives, and viewers jump in and out by acting as something akin to a researcher.” – Los Angeles Times
Tag: 04.19.19
Youth America Grand Prix Marks Two Decades Of Changing The World’s Opinions
The country – and world – is chock-full of serious ballet competitions now. But “before YAGP was founded 20 years ago, it was a much different story. For bunheads, ‘competition’ was almost a dirty word, one associated with back flips, hulking trophies and flashy jazz studios.” – Pointe Magazine
Here, Listen To Teenage Pierre Boulez’ Compositions, Written When He Was 19
Boulez erased most of his early compositions, but this one was preserved at the Paul Sacher Foundation. “After reviewing that score, ‘Prélude, Toccata et Scherzo,’ the Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat persuaded Boulez’s heirs and the Sacher Foundation to allow a belated premiere at the Philharmonie de Paris last September.” – The New York Times
Of Course Southern California Has Gardeners Who Are Instagram Stars
Southern California may seem dry and image-obsessed, but its Instagram garden stars – plantfluencers, perhaps – find not only fame but also community, and acolytes. “Influencers like Christine Kelso, Jennifer Tao, Brandon Jeon, Darlene Zavala and Danae Horst are easily approachable. Have spider mites on your alocasia? Struggling with root rot? Simply reach out to one of them on Instagram and you just might receive a response.” – Los Angeles Times
Concert Films Are Big Again, But Why?
Follow the money: “The resurgence of interest in concert films has been fuelled – in part – by streaming services’ need for content without the financial burden of drama.” The stars like the control they have over their images, too. – The Guardian (UK)
Abigail Disney Says Disney CEO’s Compensation Is ‘Insane’
The Disney heir isn’t happy with the numbers – not the raw numbers, but the pay gap. “Disney told attendees that her perspective has been informed by her interactions with Disneyland employees in Anaheim, California. Over time, she said, they have experienced a reduction in benefits, and in many cases are struggling to pay for essential needs like medicine. … ‘When [Iger] got his bonus last year, I did the math, and I figured out that he could have given personally, out of pocket, a 15% raise to everyone who worked at Disneyland, and still walked away with $10 million.'”- FastCompany
The Rise Of Pregnant Stand-Up Comedy
Sure, men have dominated comedy for a long time. But pregnant women aren’t about to let that stop them. And actually, says one comic, “When I got pregnant with my second child, things had definitely changed. … The managers and agents were all like: ‘Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Where’s the book deal? Where’s the special?'” – The New York Times
The Drug Wars From Different Angles In Latin America’s Complex Narco Novelas
Unlike English-language stories created for the U.S. market, narco novelas offer “a compelling complexity in the face of the simplistic story lines that emerge out of Hollywood. Narco novelas generally dispense with the black and white in order to look at the world in shades of gray.” – Los Angeles Times
This Presidential Museum Got Scammed
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum was all set to open a show on the Rosetta Stone, with accompanying Egyptian and Mesopotamian artifacts, when they invited University of Iowa art historians to prepare a presentation on the items. A grad student noticed that all was not right: About 90 of the 125 objects are “either definite or very likely fakes. … They obviously got taken and defrauded.” The Hoover Museum canceled the show. – KCRG (Iowa)
As Gen-Z And Millennials Drive Up Poetry Sales, London Now Has A Young People’s Poet Laureate
Theresa Lola, 24 years old and a former finance major who preferred poetry, is actually the city’s third youth poet laureate. She says, “Poetry was instrumental for me, to find my voice and to find my confidence, and hopefully it can do that for other young people too.” – The Guardian (UK)