January 14, 2025
"Some film people, including a few studio executives who have lost everything, have been pushing for a quick return to business as usual..."
"... including resuming red carpet premieres and campaigns for the Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday extended the nominee voting period until the end of this week; the ceremony will take place on March 2 as planned. But others questioned a 'show must go on' approach. 'We have to ask ourselves: How do we as a business respond to real catastrophe?' [Terry Press, a veteran movie marketer and a past president of CBS Films]. 'Thoughts and prayers and, by the way, my gown is by Gucci?... The decision to be made is whether we protect the image or whether we set an example that mirrors the best storytelling by demonstrating empathy, leadership, compassion and heroism.'"
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23 comments:
The rich Hollywooders need their fancy "look at me" red carpet Hunger Games Show.
Oh noes, our mutual masturbation society cotillion is in danger. Anyway...
If it means a few more people are revulsed I’m all for it…
Hollywood says "break a leg." Why not break both legs? Why not come to work with 3rd degree burns requiring skin grafts?
The obligatory "'Tis but a scratch" clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs
Just use those acting chops and take on the role of the English during WWII and have that whole stiff upper lip thing.
The fires have not only disrupted the lives of those who lost their homes, or have been evacuated; but will disrupt the Southern California economy, too. If one thinks that’s a bad thing, then how can one advocate for the voluntary disruption of a major local industry? Is someone working as a Set Dresser who just became “unhoused” now to be deprived of income because the optics of business as usual make rich people in the same industry uncomfortable?
Carrying on is the best example to set. It's a shame that we have declined to a place where anything other than rending your clothes and gnashing your teeth is somehow offensive.
If the wildfires are still going on by March 2, then California is more incompetent than I thought. If the industry is so sensitive to these areas being destroyed that they can’t continue with business as usual, then they can stop lecturing others on diversity. As for “ Thoughts and prayers and, by the way, my gown is by Gucci?”; it is bad behavior at any time, yet I note the disaster from Hurricane Helene caused no hesitation.
"Laugh, clown, laugh." Of course they should hold the Oscars as if nothing has happened. That's the whole purpose of show business: to entertain us, to take us out of ourselves. It's certainly not to be moral exemplars off stage, what a ridiculous notion. And The Oscars are on stage, they're a performance, the show must go on, it's the one moral imperative of the whole project.
Better hurrry up and film “Hollywood, the great fire” with Decaprio. And Disney’s “the lonesome lobo, coyote of burnt LA”. The fires won’t last forever.
I've many friends and professional contacts who work freelance in the 'events' industry in LA.
Reading of someone saying:
"Well, there's no logistical reason why we couldn't do this event, but because it would look uncaring to do so, I hope you're fine with no income for the next few weeks, on top of losing your home!"
. . . just really makes steam come from my ears.
The show must go on. It would earn them some respect.
I have been reading, started before the fires, "The Last Tycoon," by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and it is interesting, it is told from the point of view of a Hollywood brat, "Rudolph Valentino attended her fifth birthday party," who is returning home to Hollywood from Bennington College, and tells the story of a vibrant and self assured Hollywood. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack while writing it, so it's incomplete. He died in one of these houses that almost doubtlessly burned.
Anyway, the same premise is in the more recent novel, "Less Than Zero" where a Hollywood brat, whose parents knew Dennis Hopper this time, returns from Bennington on Christmas break and encounters a dissipated Hollywood, decadent, spoiled, amoral, this time the narrator is male, BTW.
Anyway, I think that they should put the show on in the spirit of the people who built those homes, who would have done the Oscars, I like to think, if at all possible.
BTW, it's kind of heartbreaking how beautiful "The Last Tycoon" is, well, in parts, it was in the form of an early draft, so it's very uneven, but if it lived up to the first few pages through the entire novel, it would have rivaled "The Great Gatsby."
One of the requirements for Oscar consideration: "A film must have diverse crews or tackle subjects pertaining to marginalized groups."
I take it back, I take it all back. I have been ignoring Hollywood, and I had no idea how bad it had gotten. It's simple fascism: Everything is Party, and nothing can be outside the Party.
How many of them voted for Karen Bass and the hairpiece?
The people mostly affected are, at most, California middle and upper-class but not studio heads. Studio heads could have pressured the government to fix the fire hazards before they grew out of control. Nobody else could.
No pity for them. Studio City wasn’t harmed. Their abodes were, apparently, mostly not harmed. They should vote smarter. Bass is an elite, repeat Venceremos Brigade commie. They picked her.
I'm in the same boat with you Douglas2, and couldn't agree more. If there were a fire that damaged part of the factory, should all the workers now be unemployed? People need money, and most don't have a fat economic surplus to draw from. Who wants to have to rely on the dole, other than fraudsters and Democrats?
Governor DeSantis, who rebuilt washed-out highways so the tourism industry could re-open, has a few suggestions......
Due to the new DEI requirements, many movies will not be eligible for major awards, anyway. I just read that the biopic "Reagan" has been ruled ineligible. Sorry, Hollywood, you lost me. Couldn't happen to a better industruy.
We got annihilated in Clearwater last year. I don't remember anybody reacting like this. And just a quick FYI to our LA brothers and sisters, you can expect FEMA to send out, if you're lucky, $ 45,000 max if you're uninsured. And it comes with strings attached. Like I have to go buy some cinder blocks, stack them up to like a foot or something, and then put my water heater on it. Like that's no big deal.
Anyways, thank God for the Clearwater Police and Fire Departments who, shockingly enough, were competent and professional. Even the garbage men were good. These clowns in Los Angeles, however, are a disgrace.
My best friend lost his house in Hurricane Harvey. A week later we were playing golf. When disaster strikes its best to get back into your routine.
There was 8' of water in the lobby of my office building after Hurricane Harvey. Several coworker's homes were completely flooded. Those who were affected were given leave to clean and fix their homes. Others were encouraged to take time to help their coworkers. All were allowed to work from home or wherever we needed to be, such as contractor locations and field operations. Over the 9 months it took to fully restore our office; productivity increased. It increased because we learned new ways of working that were more efficient. People worked more hours starting earlier in the day, taking breaks when needed, and working later if need be. When the pandemic hit; there was no question what to do.
"Hollywood" is gone. I'm old, and in my day (i.e., when I was young and opinions of people like me might have mattered) movies reached and touch a lot of people. "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard Of Oz", "Shane", "Rear Window", and many others. People cared who won the Oscars, because people (PEOPLE) cared about movies, and we, the audience, sensed that the movie-makers were talking, or trying to talk, to us.
I hardly ever watch movies (in a theater) any more. There are scores of mind-rot/time-wasting things on the TV to watch before I go to bed.
When movies were the only form of entertainment for those who didn't live in NY or Hollywood, that was a different world. I'm glad I don't work in today's entertainment world.
I seem to remember them playing baseball in NYC right after 9/11. And it was the right thing to do.
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