David Letterman’s production company will meet with officials from the Writers’ Guild later this week in an effort to craft an “interim agreement” that would allow striking writers to return to CBS’s two late-night talk shows when production resumes in January. The Guild is hoping to negotiate multiple such agreements with individual production companies, thereby giving them leverage over the major studios.
Tag: 12.20.07
Leadership Changes Afoot At TIFF
“Noah Cowan, co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival for the past four years, is leapfrogging into a new role as artistic director of Bell Lightbox, the new home of the festival and its sister organizations in the TIFF Group. Cameron Bailey, veteran film critic and festival programmer, will take over Cowan’s old job as co-director of the festival.”
Hollywood’s Tricky Pregnancy
Comedies about unwanted pregnancies have been abundant this year. (Abortions as a result of same have been nonexistant.) Does the wave of baby films signal a change in Hollywood morality?
Chaperone To Take The Long Nap
“The Drowsy Chaperone, the Canadian musical that went from bachelor-party sketch to Tony Award-winning musical announced yesterday that it would play its final New York performance on Dec. 30… The show played to capacity audiences for a long time and moved into the profit column, but for the past six months the crowds had stopped coming.”
NY Library Unveils Major Restoration Plan
“Today, the New York Public Library is to announce… a three-year restoration of the facade, stairs and plaza that is to be completed in time for the building’s centennial in 2011.” The aim is to restore the Beaux Arts building to its original glory, and add new touches such as nighttime illumination to make it a true civic landmark.
Who Will Be Talking On Late Night?
“The late-night talk show hosts are returning. But the stars are not yet ready to come out for them” if it means crossing the writers’ picket line, it would seem. Or, more to the point, no star wants to be the first to accept a booking on Jay or Dave or Conan and face the wrath of the writers alone.
Repeat Performance
Converting Disney movies to Broadway extravaganzas seems like a natural move today, but it’s easy to forget that when Beauty and the Beast made the jump to the stage, it was a surprise hit. Now, as The Little Mermaid prepares to open in New York, everyone’s wondering whether Disney can do it yet again.
A New Hope For Green Space In NY?
A 40-acre park on Governors Island in New York City may not be a matter of earth-shaking national import, but Nicolai Ouroussoff says that the plan unveiled this week for the island may be “the most inspired public park built here in generations.”
Where’s The Craft In Today’s Architecture?
“Why are so many buildings designed by today’s architects so bad? Bad not just in being ugly or failing to fit in with their surroundings, but bad in the sense that the roofs don’t keep out the rain, the walls let in draughts, and the whole structure fails to fulfil the function that it was meant to.”
How The Internet Is Reinventing Media
“Music downloads have once omni-powerful labels squealing like stuck pigs, porn-makers predict DVD sales will drop to zero within five years as people turn to free stuff on the net, and TV networks are fretting over their slide towards irrelevant middleman status.”