News

The world of indie filmmaking is forever colliding with the larger worlds of technology and giant media conglomerates, regulatory and legal developments, non-profit groups and a fickle consumer who loves indie film and other indie media.

“Media Current” is a monthly heads-up tracking these developments. It’s a big — and forever getting bigger – world out there, so readers are encouraged to e-mail me stories I’ve missed or something they believe is important for others in the indie community. I can be reached at drosennyc At verizon.net.

Shrinking Universe

One of the important, if least appreciated, developments of the independent media democracy movement of the 1960s and ‘70s was the establishment of the Public Broadcasting System and public access television (or public, education and government, Peg). Both are under serious attack today. Since 2005, Peg access centers in 100 communities have closed and more are likely.

The Benton Foundation has taken up this fight.

Fern Britton's new chatshow on Channel 4 opened with almost 1 million viewers at teatime on Monday, according to the latest audience data. The first episode of Fern, featuring interviews with Miranda Hart and Jimmy Doherty, averaged 990k (7.8%) for Channel 4 in the 5pm hour. Neil Morrissey: Care Home Kid - a documentary about the actor's experiences in the British care system - was seen by 1.92m (7.6%) on BBC Two from 9pm. Also in the 9pm hour, Waking The Dead grabbed 5.57m (22%) on BBC One, beating Law & Order: UK's 3.83m (15.1%) on ITV1 and 167k (0.9%) on +1. Earlier on ITV1, The Dales entertained 4.33m (17.1%) from 8pm. Elsewhere on BBC One, Bang Goes The Theory educated 3.1m (14.3%) from 7.30pm and Panorama: The Big Squeeze mustered 3.52m (14.4%) from 8.30pm. Comedy Mrs Brown's Boys (more)...

Noma Bar, an Israel-born illustrator based in London, tackles politically charged issues with eloquence and wit; his subjects ranging from Iraq to corporate greed. He works by honing the negative space of a drawing, so that it adds nuance to the dominant subject he’s depicting. Here's a selection of works from his new book, Negative Space, just published by Mark Batty Publishers.

Noma Bar, an Israel-born illustrator based in London, tackles politically charged issues with eloquence and wit; his subjects range from Iraq to corporate greed, and his work appears regularly in The Economist, Esquire, Wallpaper, and The Guardian. He works by honing the negative space of a drawing, so that it adds nuance to the dominant subject he’s depicting--the meaning snaps into focus only after a split-second. His best work gives you the feeling of a light bulb, popping in your head. We’ve written about Bar’s work once before,...