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☆ With YouTube Booming, Podcast Creators Get Camera-Ready
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For its new podcast studio in Burbank, Calif., Exactly Right Media — the company behind hit shows like “My Favorite Murder” and “This Podcast Will Kill You” — made several investments in high-end audio equipment: soundproofing, microphones, a dedicated control room. But that was only half the job. Next, it purchased half-a-dozen video cameras with the help of consultants, hired a set designer and a lighting designer, and found someone to build the scaffolding from which the new equipment would hang. “We got the best truss guy in the city,” said Danielle Kramer, the company’s chief operating officer.

Persons: —, ”, Danielle Kramer Locations: Burbank , Calif

☆ Paul Giamatti: ‘Maybe I’ve Done the Right Thing With My Life’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

I just didn’t really ever imagine it. I think it’s a great movie; it’s a wonderful movie. But I didn’t imagine, for me, this being something that people would take to so much. [Laughs] I didn’t really have one! I just don’t even want to look.” My manager called and woke me up and told me.

Persons: “ I’m, ”

☆ An Actor Channeling the Folklore of His Ancestors
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two of Eric Berryman’s favorite things are drinking tea and telling stories, both of which were on the agenda on a recent rainy afternoon in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo. “This first infusion I’m going to do is just to awaken the leaves and open things up,” he said, beginning with the tea. “You could drink it, but it wouldn’t be very flavorful.”Serving an audience of one, in a ramshackle office space and storage room above the Performing Garage theater, Berryman poured hot water from a portable kettle over a pile of loose, Chinese black tea leaves in a small vessel. The water turned a deep amber as the leaves softened and unfurled. After a moment, he poured the liquid away, refilled the vessel and served the tea in two gleaming white cups.

Persons: Eric Berryman’s, ”, Berryman, cocreated Organizations: Wooster, Atlanta, Black Disney Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, sips

☆ Best Podcasts of 2023: Amy Poehler, ‘Heavyweight,’ Willa Paskin
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

As always, consider this list not an objective ranking but a kind of tip sheet — more Michelin Guide than the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Casual and avid podcast listeners alike should come away with a clear sense of what the medium can do. ‘Decoder Ring’Willa Paskin’s deep-dive investigations into questions you never thought to ask (Is Parmesan cheese “authentic” Italian? In its fifth year, “Decoder Ring” was as unpredictable (does parking infrastructure count as “culture”? (Listen to “Decoder” Ring from Slate.)

Persons: Phoebe Judge, Lauren Spohrer, Aretha Franklin, Willa Paskin’s, —, Mike Hixenbaugh, Antonia Hylton’s, “, Hylton Organizations: Michelin, —, Criminal, Vox, Slate, Christian, NBC News Locations: Italian, Yellowstone Park, Dallas, Hixenbaugh

For 18 hours on a rainy Sunday this Halloween weekend, the Metropolitan Opera House was visited by the ghost of Malcolm X. Words made famous by the Black nationalist leader and civil rights figure in his classic autobiography, dictated to Alex Haley and posthumously published in 1965, could be heard echoing throughout the soaring lobby of the Lincoln Center theater. It was a welcomed haunting, conjured by the Met in conjunction with a new production of Anthony Davis’s opera “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” which premieres on Friday.

Persons: Malcolm X, Alex Haley, Anthony Davis’s Organizations: Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, Met

☆ The Rock’s Wax Figure Will Get Redo, Museum Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A wax museum in Paris said it would change its recently unveiled statue of Dwayne Johnson, better known as the Rock, after a week of ridicule on social media and a plea from the actor himself. The statue, unveiled last Monday by the Grévin Museum — the French equivalent of Madame Tussauds — depicted the “Fast and the Furious” star and former W.W.E. Critics online quickly mocked several aspects of the likeness, especially the skin tone, which many described as noticeably lighter than Johnson’s. “Who is this because uhhhh … You do know he’s Samoan and Black right lol?” wrote one commenter. An Instagram post about the “melanin deficient” statue on the popular celebrity news account The Shade Room received over 40,000 comments.

Persons: Dwayne Johnson, Madame Tussauds —, ”, Johnson, James Andre Jefferson Jr, ” Johnson Organizations: Grévin Locations: Paris

☆ 8 TikTokers Redefining the Movie Review
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The personalities of MovieTok are not critics in the traditional sense. Their upbeat videos earn them contracts with Hollywood studios in addition to the devotion of movie lovers. These accounts offer a sampling of the new breed of movie reviewers.

Organizations: Hollywood

☆ They Review Movies on TikTok, but Don’t Call Them Critics
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Unlike film departments at major metropolitan newspapers or national magazines, individuals on MovieTok generally don’t aspire to review every noteworthy film. “A lot of us don’t trust critics,” said Lucious, 31. “They watch movies and are just looking for something to critique,” he said. “Fans watch movies looking for entertainment.”MovieTok creators are not the first in the history of film criticism to rebel against their elders. And movie bloggers in the 2000s charged print critics with indifference or hostility to superhero and fantasy films.

Persons: Joe Aragon, Monse Gutierrez, Bryan Lucious, Seth Mullan, ”, Lucious, “, François Truffaut, Jean, Luc Godard, du Cinéma, Pauline Kael, Bosley Crowther, “ There’s, Mattias Frey, Noël Carrol Organizations: du, New Yorker, The New York Times, City University of London

☆ The Personal Back Story Driving ‘They Cloned Tyrone’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Where did “Tyrone” start for you? I knew I wanted to do a mystery, like a bootleg Scooby-Doo where the detectives are inadequate but somehow uniquely equipped. He had gotten arrested for something when we were 18 or 19 that ended up changing the course of his life. I started thinking a lot about blame and responsibility and that’s when all the elements of the movie came together. A lot of times it’s a song, or a piece of score and I’ll be trying to recapture how that feels.

Persons: Tyrone ”, Tony, Dion, ”, II ”, Fontaine, I’ll, Bootsy Collins, Mary Jane Girls, Patrice Rushen, Alicia Myers —, Pat, UGK

☆ Actors’ Strike Leaves Celebrity Podcasts in Grey Zone
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | More About Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Actors who host podcasts were divided on how or whether to continue their programs this week, as the 8-day-old Hollywood actors’ strike reverberated through an adjacent industry that didn’t exist during the union’s last work stoppage 43 years ago. The official targets of the strike are film and television productions associated with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a group that includes all of the major Hollywood studios and streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple. But messaging from the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, barring promotion of past or future work for the studios has left some members unsure of whether their podcasts are in violation of union policy. The actors hosting podcasts that recap the TV shows “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “One Tree Hill” and “Bones,” for example, canceled or did special episodes this week.

Persons: ” Organizations: Alliance, Television Producers, Hollywood, Netflix, SAG Locations: Philadelphia

☆ How ‘I’m a Virgo’ Pulled Off Old-School Movie Magic
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In two recent interviews, Jerome and key members of the “I’m a Virgo” crew — Maxwell Orgell, production designer; Eric Moynier, cinematographer; and Garth Winkless, puppeteer — discussed the secrets behind the show’s many movie magic tricks, the symbolism of Cootie’s size and why the most antiquated filmmaking techniques are sometimes the most effective. What did you think you were getting into when you signed up for this show? When we met in person a week later, he brought a briefcase that had these figurines of all the characters, including Cootie. MAXWELL ORGELL When I first read the script I said, “This is going to be a headache” and I walked away from the table. I needed a few days, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Persons: Jerome, Virgo, — Maxwell Orgell, Eric Moynier, Garth Winkless, —, JHARREL JEROME I, MAXWELL ORGELL, I’d, Orgell, Michel Gondry Organizations: Boots Locations: Oakland

☆ What’s a Podcast Doing at a Film Festival?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Winnie and Alex Kemp submitted their first original fiction podcast “The Imperfection” to the 2021 Tribeca Festival, they set their expectations near the curb. The couple, co-founders of the podcast studio Wolf at the Door, believed in the project. At the Tribeca Festival, which dropped the word “film” from its name that year and expanded its focus on video games, virtual reality, music and audio, “The Imperfection” received a warmer reception. Being chosen by Tribeca meant “The Imperfection” was featured with the other festival selections on the Apple Podcasts and Audible home pages, helping it reach the top 20 of Apple Podcasts’ fiction chart. The show was later nominated for best podcast of the year and best fiction writing at The Ambie awards, the industry’s answer to the Oscars.

Persons: Winnie, Alex Kemp, Wolf, —, ” Organizations: Tribeca Festival, Tribeca, Apple, Creative Artists Agency

☆ On ‘The Blog Era,’ Resurrecting Rap Media History
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In all, the Rosenthals conducted more than 150 interviews spanning more than 500 hours of raw tape. In a recent video interview, Jeff, 38, and Eric, 42, discussed corralling their subjects, memorializing digital culture and what caused the blog era’s demise. JEFF ROSENTHAL We’d been doing this weekly interview podcast, “A Waste of Time,” for five years, but when the pandemic happened we stopped pretty much immediately. It didn’t really make sense to have people coming over to our apartment to record. We think all of these places deserve monuments, so we wanted to make sure they were remembered in the right way.

☆ Two Television Showrunners on ‘Creative Short Circuits’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Reggie Ugwu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I don’t think that I could have been successful in this environment. I think we all pooh-pooh broadcast these days, but I am the showrunner I am because of broadcast, without a doubt. And I think the fact that broadcast has died is really killing showrunners. To Soo’s point, you have X number of dollars and X number of days to produce these episodes and everything kind of backfills into that. So it requires a lot of delegation and trust inside of the writers’ room.

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