“In 21st-century America, playwriting cannot be thought of in earnest as a rival of screenwriting. In reality, it is more like a barnacle clinging to it. Indeed, the economic ruin of the playwriting profession is a 20th-century story, not a 21st-century one. It began in the 1920s, or thereabouts, with the rise of commercial motion pictures, and was more or less complete by the 1980s, with the introduction of cable TVs and VCRs.”
Tag: 12.08.14
Spirits Are Up – And So Are Ticket Sales And Buzz – At Indianapolis Symphony
“Just two years ago, the future of the eight-decades-old orchestra seemed iffy. Cash-strapped and with its musicians and management at odds over a new contract, the ISO board canceled the first two weeks of the 2012-13 season. … Now, fortunes are rebounding. After three consecutive years of shrinking, ticket sales for 2013-14 rose to $7.5 million from $6.4 million the previous year.”
Hackers Send New Message To Sony: Withdraw The Movie!
“‘Stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the War!’ the hacking group said, … apparently referring to The Interview, a Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy about a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. The cyberattack on Sony Pictures has been linked to North Korea by investigators from private companies and government agencies.”
Hackers Demanded Money From Sony Before Launching Cyber Attack
“‘We’ve got great damage by Sony Pictures,’ writes ‘God’sApstls’ in the message that was sent Nov. 21 … ‘The compensation for it, monetary compensation we want. Pay the damage, or Sony Pictures will be bombarded as a whole. You know us very well. We never wait long. You’d better behave wisely.'”
Hachette Tries Selling Books Straight From Twitter (Take That, Amazon!)
“Hachette Book Group will start selling books straight from tweets, though it can’t be labeled more than an experiment for now: The publisher has partnered with digital distributor Gumroad to sell three gifty print books ‘for a limited time and in limited quantities’ via the books’ authors’ tweets.”
Misty Copeland Dances For The Wall Street Journal
She performs an excerpt from Alexei Ratmansky’s version of The Nutcracker, then talks about her career, body image, Under Armour, and her upcoming “docu-series”. (video)
How New Ideas Spread: Contagion Or Persuasion?
“In contagion models, influence goes one way, from one infected person to an uninfected one, or from someone who has adopted an idea to one who hasn’t. In persuasion models, on the other hand, influence is a two-way street, and adoption isn’t an either/or condition. Instead, people have some belief in a new idea’s value, and those who believe in it more are in turn more likely to adopt it.”
Dance Theatre Of Harlem Executive Director To Step Down
“Mr. Naidu, a former dancer and choreographer who was born in South Africa, joined the company in 1991, and was director of the Dance Theater of Harlem School and the company’s community outreach program, Dancing Through Barriers, before he became executive director.”
Kicking The Habit: For First Time Ever, The Number Of UK Homes Without Television Increases
“Media watchdog Ofcom said TV-owning households dropped by 300,000 between the end of 2012 and the end of 2013, from 26.33 million to 26.02 million. Nearly one million of the homes without a TV set do have internet access.”
Broadway Press Agent Bans Wall Street Journal Writer Who Walks Out Of Plays
In response to Joanne Kaufman’s column about how she regularly bails out at intermission from shows to which she’s received press tickets, top Broadway publicist Rick Miramontez announced that he will “unburden Joltin’ Joanne from her hardship.”