The Word was a magazine-style entertainment show that ran from 1990 to 1995 on the UK’s Channel 4. It was helmed by Mancunian motormouth Terry Christian and a medley of once and future stars, including Amanda de Cadenet, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, and Mark Lamarr. The show was the brainchild of Charlie Parsons and Terry Christian, who were tasked with filling the hip, cultural hole left behind by the departure of music-oriented, youth-skewed shows like The Tube.
The Word began life in August 1990 as a tame, tea-time shadow of the fearlessly innovative show it would later become. What saved it from becoming a real-life version of Nozin’ Aroun’ – the spoof youth show so insufferably condescending it prompted Rik to destroy his TV set in the anarchic 1980’s BBC sitcom The Young Ones – was the decision by Channel 4’s Chief Executive Michael Grade to shift transmission from 6pm to late-night. Unmoored from pre-watershed restrictions,...
The Word began life in August 1990 as a tame, tea-time shadow of the fearlessly innovative show it would later become. What saved it from becoming a real-life version of Nozin’ Aroun’ – the spoof youth show so insufferably condescending it prompted Rik to destroy his TV set in the anarchic 1980’s BBC sitcom The Young Ones – was the decision by Channel 4’s Chief Executive Michael Grade to shift transmission from 6pm to late-night. Unmoored from pre-watershed restrictions,...
- 11/18/2022
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
There was a bit of a kerfuffle last week in the U.K. after Culture Secretary Maria Miller said the arts world must make the case for public funding by focusing on its economic, not artistic, value. She told arts executives in a speech that they must "hammer home the value of culture to our economy". That’s from BBC News; this response comes via the same article: Former Arts Council England chair Dame Liz Forgan told BBC Radio 4's World at One: "The danger in what she is saying is that people actually start to believe that because art produces huge economic benefits, we should start directing our investment in culture for its commercial potential. "That's not only philistine, it's self-defeating, because then you get accountants making artistic decisions, which is as silly as having artists making accounting ones. "If you start to invest in art because of an identified commercial outcome,...
- 4/29/2013
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
What has the Leveson inquiry revealed about Jeremy Hunt's taste in art? Did he get to Take That? And how big an N-Dubz fan is he?
On Monday, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come (Gratiano, Merchant of Venice)", a celebratory quote for Shakespeare's birthday. On Tuesday, "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" might have seemed more appropriate.
Perhaps surprisingly, only two of the emails released by the Leveson inquiry this week indicated that Hunt had an interest in the arts beyond the Murdochs' BSkyB takeover bid. One, from News Corp's public affairs executive Frédéric Michel to James Murdoch, reported grabbing the culture secretary "before he went in to see Swan Lake" to discuss the bid. In another, sent later that year, Michel plaintively asked Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith whether Ed Vaizey's refusal to meet News Corp while the...
On Monday, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come (Gratiano, Merchant of Venice)", a celebratory quote for Shakespeare's birthday. On Tuesday, "Is this a dagger which I see before me?" might have seemed more appropriate.
Perhaps surprisingly, only two of the emails released by the Leveson inquiry this week indicated that Hunt had an interest in the arts beyond the Murdochs' BSkyB takeover bid. One, from News Corp's public affairs executive Frédéric Michel to James Murdoch, reported grabbing the culture secretary "before he went in to see Swan Lake" to discuss the bid. In another, sent later that year, Michel plaintively asked Hunt's special adviser Adam Smith whether Ed Vaizey's refusal to meet News Corp while the...
- 4/26/2012
- by Alex Needham
- The Guardian - Film News
Film-maker with a 'faultless painter's eye' who won several awards, including the Prix Italia for Maids and Madams for Channel 4
Mira Hamermesh, who has died aged 88, was a film-maker of the first rank. Several women have made, or are making, superlative documentaries for British television. Hamermesh was of their number. The films were carefully constructed and beautifully composed – the writer Fay Weldon said she had "a faultless painter's eye". But they also dealt in ideas; Mira made us think.
She was born in Lodz, Poland's second city, the youngest of three children, to middle-class Jewish parents. Around the time of her birth, Lodz had just over 600,000 inhabitants; 200,000 of them Jews. In September 1939, the Wehrmacht arrived in Lodz. At once, they made it brutally clear that Jews would have no rights, no place there. In November, Mira decided to leave; she would try to reach an elder sister, a Zionist,...
Mira Hamermesh, who has died aged 88, was a film-maker of the first rank. Several women have made, or are making, superlative documentaries for British television. Hamermesh was of their number. The films were carefully constructed and beautifully composed – the writer Fay Weldon said she had "a faultless painter's eye". But they also dealt in ideas; Mira made us think.
She was born in Lodz, Poland's second city, the youngest of three children, to middle-class Jewish parents. Around the time of her birth, Lodz had just over 600,000 inhabitants; 200,000 of them Jews. In September 1939, the Wehrmacht arrived in Lodz. At once, they made it brutally clear that Jews would have no rights, no place there. In November, Mira decided to leave; she would try to reach an elder sister, a Zionist,...
- 2/26/2012
- by Jeremy Isaacs
- The Guardian - Film News
From demolishing Alice in Wonderland to deciphering Macbeth, our young readers bowled over the judges with their wit
Fresh bands, young directors, hot new actors and artists straight out of college are the lifeblood of the arts. And, to ensure that criticism doesn't get stale, it's essential that their generation is represented in our reviewers. The Guardian's annual young critics competition is designed to ensure that arts criticism can reflect the voices of a younger arts audience. That said, youth alone is not enough. These days, it's easier than ever to find a platform on which to voice your opinions – by blogging, tweeting, or posting on comment threads – but with all that competition, it's more essential than ever that you have something worthwhile to say.
The entries confirmed that there are 10-18-year-olds out there with perceptive, funny things to convey about subjects ranging from the Selfridges building in Birmingham to tattooed La rockers Buckcherry.
Fresh bands, young directors, hot new actors and artists straight out of college are the lifeblood of the arts. And, to ensure that criticism doesn't get stale, it's essential that their generation is represented in our reviewers. The Guardian's annual young critics competition is designed to ensure that arts criticism can reflect the voices of a younger arts audience. That said, youth alone is not enough. These days, it's easier than ever to find a platform on which to voice your opinions – by blogging, tweeting, or posting on comment threads – but with all that competition, it's more essential than ever that you have something worthwhile to say.
The entries confirmed that there are 10-18-year-olds out there with perceptive, funny things to convey about subjects ranging from the Selfridges building in Birmingham to tattooed La rockers Buckcherry.
- 10/20/2010
- by Alex Needham
- The Guardian - Film News
Shadow culture secretary says Tory government would introduce administrative cost limits and encourage Us-style philanthropy
Fierce cuts for cultural quangos and plans for a "Us-style culture of philanthropy" will be central to a future Tory government's arts policy, the shadow culture secretary said today.
Jeremy Hunt promised a "golden age" for the arts in his most detailed statement yet on the party's policy.
He said the Conservatives would introduce a target for the main distributors of arts grants, including the Film Council and Arts Council England (Ace), to reduce administrative costs to a maximum of 5% of the money received from government – meaning stringent cuts.
"We think administrative costs are far too high," said Hunt, singling out the Heritage Lottery Fund and Ace – which spend 13% and 11% of grant money respectively on their own administration – as culprits. The latter needed to be "leaner, though not meaner", he said, though the chair of Arts Council England,...
Fierce cuts for cultural quangos and plans for a "Us-style culture of philanthropy" will be central to a future Tory government's arts policy, the shadow culture secretary said today.
Jeremy Hunt promised a "golden age" for the arts in his most detailed statement yet on the party's policy.
He said the Conservatives would introduce a target for the main distributors of arts grants, including the Film Council and Arts Council England (Ace), to reduce administrative costs to a maximum of 5% of the money received from government – meaning stringent cuts.
"We think administrative costs are far too high," said Hunt, singling out the Heritage Lottery Fund and Ace – which spend 13% and 11% of grant money respectively on their own administration – as culprits. The latter needed to be "leaner, though not meaner", he said, though the chair of Arts Council England,...
- 1/14/2010
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
LONDON -- Pop singer Tom Jones, jazzman John Dankworth and playwright Arnold Wesker received knighthoods in the British New Year's Honors list announced Saturday. The U.K.'s top lifetime achievement awards, the Queen's honors, which include varied ranks, go to people from all walks of life. Designer Vivienne Westwood was made a dame for services to British fashion. Former BBC Radio chief Liz Forgan, now chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, was made a dame for services to broadcasting. Olympic athlete turned politician Sebastian Coe was made a knight for his work on London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympiad.
- 12/31/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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