Saturday Hot Links
Time for the 245th installment of Saturday Hot Links, your week’s essential reading about movies, TV, streaming, Hollywood, and other things of writerly interest.
Introducing: The Academy Class of 2016.
Film Academy Invites a Record 683 New Members: 46 Percent Female and 41 Percent People of Color.
How the Academy Pushed the Diversity Needle with 683 Member Invites.
25 Filmmakers Under 50 Who Could Shake Up The Academy.
The Academy Announced Oscar Dates So Oscar Season Can Finally Start.
Why Are Finding Nemo and Finding Dory Such Enormous Hits?
Here’s Why ‘The Shallows’ Caused a Feeding Frenzy at the Box Office.
What a ‘Free State of Jones’ Flop Means for Young STX.
Top 10 Box Office Takeaways: Why ‘Finding Dory’ Sequel Drowned ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’.
5 Reasons Why ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ Bombed.
The Secret to Sequels Is In the Details: Why so many follow-ups are falling flat.
No More Pixar Sequels Currently In Development Beyond ‘The Incredibles II’.
Arthouse Audit: A24’s ‘Swiss Army Man’ Slices ‘The Neon Demon’.
Brexit Sell-Off: CBS, Liberty Global, ITV Stocks Among Buying Opportunities, Analysts Say.
Brexit: Who Stands to Win (or Lose) in Hollywood After the Vote.
Less cash, fewer movies, meltdown: How Brexit may affect British film.
Europe Launches $135 Million Program to Back Entertainment Companies.
Warner Bros. Is Bringing 21 TV Shows to Comic-Con.
Sony Corp. CEO: Film Studio Shake-up Will Take “Two to Three Years to Produce Results”.
MGM Completes $1B Credit Restructuring.
Lionsgate to Acquire Starz for $4.4 Billion.
Lionsgate-Starz Deal Shows How Digital Has Upended TV Business.
5 Possible Plays After Lionsgate-Starz Deal.
See The First Poster & Synopsis For Terrence Malick’s IMAX Spectacular ‘Voyage Of Time’.
Deconstructing Spielberg: Exploring the many elements of one of entertainment’s icons.
James Cameron Reveals Why He Thinks ‘The Force Awakens’ Doesn’t Live Up To George Lucas’s Vision.
Neil Gaiman’s Writing a Non-Fiction Book on Norse Mythology.
The Screenwriter of “E.T.” and “The BFG” Says Goodbye.
These haunting photographs show where cultural icons died in car crashes.
‘Star Trek’ Oral History: When Captain Kirk Fought Jesus.
Inside the Making of Home Alone’s Fake Gangster Movie.
‘Die Hard’: How Bruce Willis Changed the Movies.
Before Redstone v. Dauman, These Were the 7 Biggest Hollywood Power Struggles.
From Arya to Zayn: The Rise and Fall of 100 Hollywood-Inspired Baby Names.
Scarlett Johansson Is Now the 10th Highest Grossing Movie Star of All Time.
Matthew McConaughey to Teach University Film Class.
Why stuntwomen are in more danger than men.
Study: Films Directed By Women Receive 63 Percent Less Distribution Than Male-Helmed Movies.
4 Universal Tips to Polish Your Screenplay.
The Kids Are Alright: How YA Stars Have Become The Unlikely Saviors Of American Indie Film.
Even With the Help of Big Names, Indie Directors Are Hard-Pressed to Make a Living.
How Film Festivals Decide Which Movies to Accept.
How To Make an Indie TV Pilot.
Why Seasickness Could Sink Virtual Reality.
Americans Are Watching Less Traditional TV, as Smartphone Media Usage Booms.
U.S. Adults Consume an Hour More of Media Per Day.
Lionsgate, Idris Elba’s Green Door partner on TV writing competition.
In Season 3, ‘Silicon Valley’ Finds Its Heart and Its Groove.
We Figured Out Jared’s Insane Backstory on ‘Silicon Valley’.
‘Game Of Thrones’ David Benioff & D.B. Weiss On Shocking Season 6 Finale.
Europe’s Cable Sector Grows 7% in 2015.
Movies Coming to Netflix in July.
Netflix Goes From Chill to Neurotic by Making 7 Albert Brooks Movies Available to Stream.
Top 50 YouTube and Vimeo Channels for Filmmakers and Cinephiles.
Time Inc Doubles Down on Digital With Reorganization, Possible Layoffs.
Musical.ly’s Live.ly App Nears 500,000 Downloads, Already Has First Live-Streamed Hit Show.
Sony Carves Out New Virtuality Reality Chief Role for Jake Zim.
The 7 best movie podcasts you should be listening to.
Author Gay Talese Disavows His Upcoming Book, ‘The Voyeur’s Motel’.
3rd & Fairfax (WGAW Podcast): Episode 26 — John August talks with Simon Kinberg.
Chicks Who Script: Episode 86.
Scriptnotes: Episode 256.
Watch: The 12 Minute Lo-Fi, Futuristic 1978 Short Film That Gave James Cameron His Start.
Watch: Wes Anderson’s original 13 minute short film “Bottle Rocket”.
Watch: “Before” Trilogy — Three chapters, One lifetime.
Watch: Martin Scorsese’s Close-Ups.
Watch: The Making of ‘Dr. Strangelove’.
Watch: Midnight Special: Rising from the Rubble.
Watch: The Art of the Car Chase.
Watch: Cuts and Transitions.
Watch: If Movies Ended When Someone Said the Title.
Watch: Kicking Against the Chick Flicks: Reclaiming the Hollywood Romcom.
Watch: Steven Spielberg Tours Universal Studios for a Trip Down Memory Lane.
Watch: Stop the Hate: 49 Celebrities Honor 49 Victims of Orlando Tragedy in Ryan Murphy-Produced Tribute.
Screenwriting Master Class tip of the week
Here is our schedule of classes and workshops in July:
July 5: Craft: TV — Writing the Web Series
presented by Tom Benedek
July 11: Core II: Concept
presented by Scott Myers
July 18: Scene Writing Intensive
presented by Tom Benedek
July 25: Prep: From Concept to Outline
presented by Scott Myers
To see our course schedule through the end of 2016, go here.
We look forward to the opportunity to work with you!