nollywood

Right behind Hollywood and Bollywood, stands Nollywood, Nigeria's film industry, the world's third largest producer of feature films. With an average budget of just $15,000 and a production span of ten days, Nollywood films have been on the up since the early 90s. Time and financial constraints certainly haven't inhibited the directors, producers and writers of Nigeria.."some 300 producers churn out movies at an astonishing rate—somewhere between 500 and 1,000 a year." It can certainly be said that creativity is fostered in the midst of spare time and resources, and the innovative talent behind Nigeria's film industry prove that.

bollywood

With our recent readings on Indian culture, film and television, I figured now would be a good time to touch on the phenomenon that is, BOLLYWOOD!
Bollywood is the name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. It unites the words Bombay and Hollywood and in doing so, is a greater symbol for the assimilation of American and Indian culture. A bollywood film is usually characterized by its elements of modern indian music and dance. Indian dance often blends with Western dance styles (like those seen on MTV music videos). The plots are often quite theatrical. The plot tends to center around "star-crossed lovers, corrupt politicians, twins separated at birth, angry parents, courtesans with hearts of gold, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences." Indian film is quite popular on Indian television, which creates a dynamic dyad of the success of film and television in Indian culture.

POV | Documentaries

I came across this website today and was overwhelmed by the number of documentaries which focus on issues of ethnicity and immigration. I included a trailer of one film below, filmmaker Almudena Carracdeo claims, "Made in L.A. is an intimate portrait of an all-American experience: the struggle of recent immigrants to get a foothold, to assert their voices, to say, 'I exist. And I have rights.'”

the telly

The most recent survey conducted by the Nielson Company (a marketing and media information company, specializing in data collection ) suggests that Americans watch an average of 151 hours of television every month, that's 5 hours a day! Last year the firm reported only 3.8 hours per day. So, what accounts for this increase? Are television shows getting more interesting? Are television screens becoming more and more accessible..it seems like we can watch it everywhere..from our car to our cellphones and even the Internet. Susan Bandura, director of strategy in the San Francisco branch suggests that, "the average U.S. household now contains more televisions than people, which means that family members or roommates can watch their favorite shows alone." Well, we have certainly come a long way from crowding around a single tube in the living room with friends, family and neighbors.

color-blind casting

As an extension from my last post, I came across this article from Entertainment Weekly.
Diversity: Why is TV so white?
Shondra Rhines, creator of shows like Grey's Anatomy, explains, ''Do I want to see any more shows where someone has a sassy black friend? No, because I'm nobody's sassy black friend. I just want to see shows in which people get to be people and that look like the world we live in. The world is changing, and television will have to follow."
I couldn't agree more. These television shows aren't showing enough of an equal, realistic landscape of the diversity we see in America today.