Ultimately, the constraints on production due to the pandemic could (and should) be the ideal time to explore the limited series format further. Gone are the days when it used to mean “this big, cheesy melodrama,” as FX’s chairman John Landgraf so concisely put it. Instead, the limited series has become a powerful vehicle for concise visions. Amid a Peak TV era of increasingly bloated multi-season arcs, there’s something to be said for the less-is-more school of storytelling. … [Read more...] about Hollywood is redefining Peak TV—for better and for worse
2019 movies
Who wins and loses with the College Board’s cancellation of the SAT essay and subject tests?
What’s actually happening here? The College Board also produces the AP exams. This is the equivalent of an auto company discontinuing a struggling model, and encouraging customers toward its sister model. Subject Test registrations were down 8% from 2016-2019, and plummeted amidst the pandemic. The Board did not note this. … [Read more...] about Who wins and loses with the College Board’s cancellation of the SAT essay and subject tests?
Patagonia’s reversible poem ad is a check on runaway Black Friday Cyber Monday spending
Despite its global cultural cachet, Patagonia doesn’t have a massive advertising budget, so it depends on its creativity to get the word out about its overall mission to save our home planet. It uses finely tuned words in unexpected ways, from “Don’t Buy This Jacket” and “The President Stole Your Land” to “Vote the assholes out.” … [Read more...] about Patagonia’s reversible poem ad is a check on runaway Black Friday Cyber Monday spending
Scott Galloway: Why 2021 will be a year of reckoning for Big Tech
To prevail against the Big Tech titans, the government will need more than a strong legal case; it will need public support. For years, however, our idolatry of innovators was Big Tech’s ace in the hole. That’s changing. Social media disinformation and polarization, the exploitation of the gig economy, and the strip-mining of our personal information are melting away the heat shield of likability that surrounds these companies. More hearings like July’s CEO barbecue, and more revelations about the way in which these companies exploit their dominance, will burn it away for good. … [Read more...] about Scott Galloway: Why 2021 will be a year of reckoning for Big Tech
How Trump gave rise to the aesthetics of hate
To make his splash as a presidential candidate in 2015, Trump didn’t introduce a bold and poised new political brand, as did U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He co-opted the brands of others, points out Forest Young, chief creative officer at brand consultancy Wolff Olins. That includes the sloppily made MAGA hat with a slogan from the Reagan administration, and the Space Force logo that was clearly built upon Star Trek. His fans have doubled down on sloppy design with homegrown memes ranging from Pepe the Frog to Trump as a greased-up, gun-toting Rambo. … [Read more...] about How Trump gave rise to the aesthetics of hate