POLICY
FCC Finally Takes the Fifth
FILM
Plot Twist for 'Indie' Filmmakers
Deadline Hollywood: The Untold Story
POLICY
FCC FINALLY TAKES THE FIFTH
With the Senate's drawn-out confirmation process finally at an end, new FCC
Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein may take his seat on the Commission as early
as next week. Described by some as a pragmatist, Adelstein is likely to
align with fellow Democratic commissioner Michael Copps. This creates a
potential situation in which policy initiatives favored by Chairman Michael
Powell might have to be scaled back rather than approved by a split 3-2
vote, which would signal uncertainty to Congress and federal judges.
[SOURCE: Editor & Publisher, AUTHOR: Todd Shields]
(http://www.mediainfo.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?v
nu_content_id=1764446)
FILM
PLOT TWIST FOR 'INDIE' FILMMAKERS
Several companies in New York are attempting to use digital moviemaking
tools to produce a steady stream of low-budget, arty films. For two
companies, Independent Digital Entertainment (InDigEnt) and Blow Up
Pictures, the model has worked. The advent of affordable digital cameras and
editing systems has helped to minimize some of the risk involved in
independent filmmaking and allowed artists to control their projects from
start to finish. "When we started Blow Up, we said, 'We will be a studio,'"
said Jason Kliot, one of the company's founders. "We own the means of
production. We'll produce our movies, finish them ourselves, finance them
ourselves and give our directors final cut."
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Jason Silverman]
(http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56510,00.html)
DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD: THE UNTOLD STORY
[COMMENTARY] Truly independent coverage of large media conglomerates is
vanishing, says columnist Nikki Finke, and what remains can't be trusted,
either. Given recent layoffs at Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Business
Week and Forbes, today's media coverage suffers from a lack of independent
business reporters. As the FCC considers scaling back or eliminating rules
governing media ownership, conglomerates continuously fail to accurately or
extensively cover themselves, save for opportunities to self-promote. Even
book publishing has been dragged within the realm of dishonesty, as
publishers Hyperion, Simon & Schuster and Little Brown have been purchased
by the likes of Disney, Viacom and Warner Bros., respectively. "The only
solution," the author concludes, "is for journalists to make fuller
disclosures, just as Wall Street financial analysts were finally forced into
doing about themselves and their firms."
[SOURCE: LA Weekly, AUTHOR: Nikki Finke]
(http://www.laweekly.com/ink/03/01/deadline-finke.php)
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