Local and Industry News
Florida's arts funding is getting a 24 percent increase.
$26.7 million has been budgeted for the arts for 2021-22. Of that amount, $3.5 million has been allocated for Culture Builds Florida Grants, which funds special projects by individuals and smaller organizations.
SAG-AFTRA's Miami chapter has hired Michael Viera as executive director. He was previously senior corporate counsel at Olympusat and is a graduate of FIU and the University of Miami.
New York City has budgeted $25 million on the City Artist Corps. The program will put artists, musicians, and other performers back to work across the city and is expected to create jobs for 1,500. during the pandemic, arts employment fell 66 percent and 95 percent of New York City artists reported losing income.
An Actors Fund survey of New Yorkers reports that 40 percent of those in the arts and entertainment were food insecure during the pandemic, 28 percent were behind on rent or mortgages, and 20 percent had been forced to move, with 13 percent moving out of New York state. Theater workers were the hardest hit.
The Miami Music Project has received $60,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will support their children's orchestra program for at-risk youth.
Hamilton, Wicked, and The Lion King will return to Broadway on September 14 to 100 percent capacity. The producer of Hamilton has stated that all of the show's employees will be required to show proof of vaccination. In total, 23 shows have announced plans to resume performances.
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YouTube is poised to match Netflix's revenue by the end of the year. At its current pace, YouTube is expected to generate $29 to $30 billion this year. While Netflix relies on subscription fees for revenue, YouTube makes money primarily through advertising.
Discovery and WarnerMedia may be merging. The deal would have AT&T spin off its entertainment arm to form a combined WarnerMedia and Discovery that would own Warner Bros, HBO, CNN, TNT, Discovery, HGTV and other properties.
Amazon has bought MGM for $8.45 billion. MGM has a deep library of 4,000 films such as the James Bond Films and the Hobbit films, and 17,000 episodes of TV programming including Stargate, The Handmaid's Tale, Survivor, and The Voice.
Amazon spent $11 billion on streaming content in 2020, an increase of $3.2 billion from 2019. Amazon now has 200 million subscribers, an increase of 50 million in the last year.
YouTube plans to launch the YouTube Shorts Fund in the fall. $100 million will be available for creators to make TikTok-style clips on YouTube. Shorts opened to users in March as an experiment and now YouTube is looking for ways to monetize the clips and reward creators.
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The Dallas Opera has launched the streaming platform thedallasopera.tv. The service will include full performances such as a 2019 performance of Magic Flute, as well as prerecorded recitals. The Opera plans to return to live productions in February 2022.
The San Francisco Opera and Symphony returned to live performances in April. The Opera is presenting drive-in concerts and the Symphony is holding indoor performances with social distancing and sans intermission.
The Atlanta Symphony will return to Symphony Hall in September. The Symphony is still finalizing hall capacity and protocols and will also continue broadcasting virtually. The Symphony also reports that the vast majority of the orchestra is already vaccinated.
The San Diego Symphony has raised $98.7 million for its downtown bayside concert venue. Top donors include Ernest and Evelyn Rady ($15 million), the Conrad Prebys Foundation ($15 million), Joan and Irwin Jacobs ($11 million), and Una Davis ($10 million). The 10,000-seat venue was scheduled to open July 2020, but the pandemic delayed the opening until summer 2021.
