It’s not a bookstore, not a library, and definitely not a profit-driven enterprise. It’s Book Thing, the Baltimore-based book exchange where rich meets poor, elitism dances with populism, and everyone goes away with either a good book or a good feeling.
Tag: 11.27.04
Author Hailey Dies
“Arthur Hailey, the bestselling author who plucked characters from ordinary life and threw them into extraordinary ordeals, died in his home in the Bahamas, his wife said yesterday. He was 84.”
Toronto Film Industry Withering Fast
“In economic impact, the [film] industry has brought $2.6 billion annually into Toronto’s economy — to say nothing of the bragging rights the city has enjoyed as a metropolis sparkling with Hollywood glitter. But in recent years that bloom has withered dramatically. A generous system of provincial tax credits that allowed both domestic and foreign film productions a rebate on labour expenses incurred while in production in Ontario has been duplicated — and in most cases, bettered — all over the world… That, combined with a rising dollar, an increasingly hard line in Los Angeles against ‘runaway productions’ and the lingering effects of last year’s SARS outbreak, has driven foreign production in Ontario down from $981.6 million in 2001 to $874.1 million in 2003.”
The Human Cost
The downturn in Canadian film fortunes has had a very real impact on the people who make their living behind the scenes. Jobs are decidedly scarce for Toronto-based location managers, grips, and other crew members working for the TV and movie industries. Actors are having a rough time too, and many are wondering whether they can continue to make a living without moving south.
Big Cuts At Interlochen
Interlochen Center for the Arts, the northern Michigan-based arts academy which runs a full-time arts high school as well as a massive summer camp program, has made some big cuts to its summer offerings. 37 faculty members received notification this week that they would not be brought back in 2005, and the summer camp will be shortened from eight weeks to six. Interlochen administrators say that the cuts were necessary to insure financial stability and allow for basdly-needed raises for the remaining faculty. The summer program had 247 instructors and more than 2000 students this past summer.
All-Star Dance Meets Russian Melodrama
The Moscow Ballet is in the midst of a massive 75-city tour featuring 100 dancers culled from Russia’s various professional troupes. A few bumps in the road are only to be expected during such a long tour, of course, but the Russians seem to be facing more than a couple of minor crises. “A disgruntled former director and performer, Valery Lantratov, has issued a couple of angry e-mails to the press complaining of ‘an unacceptable contract which infringed on the rights of the artists’ and ‘discontent with the marketing practices’ that included allegations of false advertising.”
Naxos Goes Modern
Mention Naxos, the low-budget, high-volume classical label that has been one of the only success stories in an otherwise-blighted corner of the record industry over the last decade, and you won’t find a lot of love from many musicians and other guardians of high recording fees and big-name promotions. But Naxos is quietly expanding its reach in the music world, and a major new project has the company commissioning, recording, and promoting a series of ten new string quartets from the British composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. “The conventional wisdom at most major labels is that it’s hard enough to sell new music. Going out and helping it come into being is virtually unprecedented.”
Saatchi vs. Tate, Yet Again
“The longstanding rivalry between Charles Saatchi, the British advertising magnate and art collector, and Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate here, is heating up again. Mr. Saatchi says Sir Nicholas turned down his offer to give the Tate his entire collection, while Sir Nicholas says no such offer was made.” There has long been bad blood between these two heavyweights of the British art world: Saatchi believes the Tate is stuffy and uninterested in seriously promoting new Brit-art, while the leadership of Tate Modern views Saatchi as a cowboy more interested in generating controversy and winning turf wars than securing the future of art.
The More The Merrier In Denver
Nothing strikes terror into the hearts of planners of local holiday shows like the news that the Rockettes are coming to town. The touring version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular has been a mass-marketing juggernaut in many cities, severely cutting into ticket sales for local productions of The Nutcracker and other holiday favorites. But in Denver, where the Radio City show is debuting this year, “the show’s ubiquitous advertising and numerous public appearances have brought earlier and increased awareness to all consumers of their impending holiday entertainment choices. And early returns indicate everyone seems to have benefited.”
Putting The Public Back In Public Art
Chicago artists have long complained that the city’s public art program is unnecessarily secretive and unresponsive to public concerns. A corporate lawyer named Scott Hodes has been fighting to get the program’s inner workings open to scrutiny for years, and now, he appears to have won. Among other accusations of impropriety, Hodes “alleged that $20,600 in program funds were improperly channeled to artists and apprentices through a charity directed by [Chicago’s First Lady Maggie] Daley.” The city, which has always maintained that the program operates completely above board, has now agreed to meet with Hodes and, presumably, to satisfy his demands for a more transparent process.