With Everything In The Film Business Changing, Will There Even Be Movies As We Know Them In Ten Years?

“24 major Hollywood figures peer into the future, including: Ava DuVernay (on audiences), Jason Blum (on producing), Octavia Spencer (on acting), Kumail Nanjiani (on comedy), Lena Waithe (on black filmmakers), J.J. Abrams (on blockbusters), Jon M. Chu (on diversity), Jessica Chastain (on dramas), Elizabeth Banks (on female filmmakers), Barry Jenkins (on the Oscars) and Joe and Anthony Russo (on two-hour narratives).” – The New York Times

In The Visual Arts, Having A Master’s Degree Will Not Make A Big Difference In Your Salary: Study

“According to the first POWarts Salary Survey, a report on wages and various sectors of the art industry conducted by the Professional Organization for Women in the Arts, … the median salary for respondents with a bachelor’s degree was $60,000. By contrast, the median for respondents with a master’s degree was $62,000 — just $2,000 more. (The median for respondents with a doctorate degree was $73,500.)” – ARTnews

China Has Hundreds Of Ultra-Modern Museums With Nothing In Them

“As part of a broad central government initiative, thousands of museums have been built across the country over the past decade, with a staggering 451 being opened in 2012 alone. … [But] the obsessive drive to build more and more cultural facilities has resulted in a conspicuous dearth of exhibits, let alone demand from people wanting to visit them — leaving hundreds of massive, often opulent, and architecturally iconic buildings sitting underused or even completely empty today.” – Forbes

Brazilian President’s New Theatre Boss Calls On Conservative Artists To Create ‘Cultural War Machine’

Roberto Alvim announced last week that he was closing his São Paulo troupe because he was the target of criticism and boycotts for his conservative political views. President Bolsonaro promptly appointed him head of theatre at the National Foundation of the Arts — and from that perch, Alvim has called for right-leaning arts professionals to submit resumes for a database that can be consulted when awarding federal funding. – The Art Newspaper

The Country Music Stereotype Is Redneck. But It Grew Out Of Progressive Roots

These kinds of negative projections of the people who have made country music, and have listened to it, linger even unto today. The stereotype is that they all harbour conservative political and social beliefs, setting them as sexist, racist, jingoistic and fundamentalist Christian by nature. But this image is a lie. For, right from the start, country music spoke up with a progressive voice. – Aeon