Canada’s Doc Makers: New Funding Model Imperils Us

“Canada’s documentary filmmakers are calling for changes to the newly established Canada Media Fund, claiming the current setup threatens their very existence. At a news conference staged in the midst of the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto yesterday, members of the Documentary Organization of Canada said they are concerned that the structure of the new fund will create conflicts of interest that could shut their industry out of crucial financing.”

The Tonys: Terrific Actors. Too Bad About The Shows.

“A glut of great acting talent and a scarcity of distinguished new plays and musicals — the Tony nominations for the 2008-09 season, announced this morning, reveal that the more things economically change, the more they commercially stay the same. … The Tony nominating committee members have had no choice but to become connoisseurs of Happy Meals, differentiating among burgers and fries as they wipe the grease from their upper lips.”

San Francisco Opera Slices $1M From Budget

“Beginning August 1, 2009, the top five highest paid executives will receive a 5 percent pay cut; four open positions will remain vacant; S.F. Opera will suspend matching contributions to administrative employee 401(a) pension plans; all administrative employees will take one week unpaid furloughs in January 2010; staff healthcare contributions will increase; and there will be no more parking subsidies.”

The Crooks’ Archive

Two memoirs of the eponymous Mr. Ponzi – a “self-serving” one by the swindler himself and a more honest one (hitherto lost) by his erstwhile publicist – are “part of a trove of 2,200 books, manuscripts and pamphlets on swindlers and their frauds, hoaxes and confidence games acquired a year ago and recently catalogued by John Jay College of Criminal Justice.”

‘The Oddest And Most Anachronistic’ Billboard Chart

“But as sales of CD singles have dwindled (most major labels have ceased production of CD singles altogether), the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales chart has become a sales log, primarily, of 12-inch maxi-singles – good old-fashioned vinyl records. […] Last week’s chart-topper was the Dallas rap crew GS Boyz’s infectious, ridiculous ‘Stanky Legg.'”

Three Kids, One Tony Nomination — But Sharing Isn’t New

“It’s not the first time that multiple people share a single acting nomination at the Tony Awards. This year the three boys who portray the title star of ‘Billy Elliot’ on different nights on a rotating basis — David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish — compete for best actor in a musical. There are four previous examples in Tonys history.”