Porters at Sotheby’s London mistakenly put a crate containing a £100,000 Lucien Freud painting arriving for a sale into the trash, where it was hauled away and crushed in a machine. The mistake was not, Sotheby’s officials hasten to explain, a comment by the porters on the artwork. – The Independent (UK)
Tag: 04.28.00
WHAT TO DO…
Hollywood heavyweights from a variety of disciplines, from film’s Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee to television’s Gary David Goldberg, are being invited to what’s being called the PBS Summit on Creativity and Community. They’ll be asked for ideas about what the noncommercial broadcaster ought to be doing. “We’re looking at a media landscape that’s going to change dramatically in the next five years, and public television and its member stations really need to look at some new ideas,” says new PBS president Pat Mitchell. “We need an infusion of outside thinking.” – Los Angeles Times 04/28/00
CHANGE OF DIRECTION
Even though the Berlin Film Festival – the Berlinale – is second in size in Europe only to Cannes, it’s not had the luster many of its supporters think it should have. Now Festival director Moritz de Hadeln has been fired – after more than two decades at its helm. – Die Welt (Germany) 04/28/00
RECORD BOOTY
China has seized 200,000 pirated DVD’s and CD’s in a raid in Guangzhou, its largest haul yet of stolen music and movies. – Variety 04/28/00
DINING ROOM EDIT
Costs for shooting and editing a movie have plunged, bringing sophisticated technology to the home user. A Pittsburgh man edits his full-length feature on his dining room table – total budget $2000. “We had a 3/4-inch online video editing system that was worth $250,000.” says a movie maker. “Now, it can be done on a computer for less than $20,000.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 04/28/00