Television industry

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington has called out what he called “sexism towards men” in an interview with the Sunday Times. Harington said he accepted attitudes towards women in the film and television industry were far from perfect. But he suggested that life for handsome young male actors was more fraught with difficulty than the public might expect. “I think there is a double standard,” the English actor told the Sunday Times. “If you said to a girl, ‘Do you like being called a babe?’ and she said, ‘No, not really,’ she’d be absolutely right. “I like to think of myself as more than a head of hair or a set of looks,” added Harington. “It’s demeaning. Yes, in some ways you could argue I’ve been employed for a look I have. But there’s a sexism that happens towards men. There’s definitely a sexism in our industry that happens towards women, and there is towards men as well ... At some … [Read more...] about Kit Harington: film industry guilty of ‘sexism towards men’

Sarah Gavron, director, Suffragette, Brick Lane I’ve endlessly found myself in rooms of men and had the experience of feeling I wasn’t being heard. It’s a confidence thing. Jane Campion has talked about how women need to put on their armour. With Suffragette I was emboldened that there were so many women around me. We had a female writer, producers, production and costume designers. It was only my second feature film and it was a big challenge. Plus we were telling a story of women who broke taboos, so we felt we had to be fearless. We even tracked down a female sound recordist: it’s a really intimate role, standing there with the boom, especially in the strip-search scenes. I’m so aware how often women’s bodies are objectified on film. Brendan Gleeson, who plays a police officer in the film, joked he’s rarely worked in such an oestrogen-filled environment. He really spoke positively about it. Right from the beginning, both Ben [Whishaw] and … [Read more...] about ‘99% of women working in the film and TV industries have experienced sexism’

Dan Rather, one of the giants of American broadcast journalism, is to leave the channel he has worked at for 44 years, for a position at a little watched cable channel. CBS announced yesterday that Rather, 74, would be leaving the channel where he hosted the evening news for 24 years until he stood down last year. "For more than four decades, Dan Rather has approached the job of broadcast journalist with a singular passion, dedication and, always, an unwavering desire to tell the story to the American public," said the CBS president, Leslie Moonves. "The unique mark he has left on his craft is indelible." Rather has said in recent days that he was unhappy with the new role being offered him at the channel, where he has covered most of the big stories of the past 40 years, from the Kennedy assassination to the invasion of Iraq. In September 2004, however, he introduced and subsequently defended a report questioning George Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam war. The report … [Read more...] about After 44 years, Dan Rather quits CBS to join small cable channel

One of America’s most powerful TV networks is in hot water again. For months NBC News has been trying to rebut reports that it suppressed former correspondent Ronan Farrow’s investigation into sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Its parent network, NBC, has also been dealing with the fallout from allegations of sexual abuse and harassment from its once top presenter Matt Lauer. Now NBC – which presides over America’s top-rated nightly newscast, as well as the longest-running television news series – faces a new public relations headache. NBC has faced a storm of criticism following reports that it fired the African American presenter Gabrielle Union after she spoke out about racially insensitive behavior and other problems on the set of the hit show America’s Got Talent. The prominent women’s advocacy group Time’s Up has denounced NBC’s handling of Union, telling the Guardian it fits a “pattern of the network … [Read more...] about NBC faces new PR headache as it grapples with #MeToo era

BBC2 viewers keen on a bit of wanton four-wheel destruction at the hands of a bunch of whooping middle-aged men need no longer mourn the passing of Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear. The return of Robot Wars, back on Sunday night, is perfectly timed to fill the void of the Top Gear slot, not least after the travails of the motoring show’s short-lived Chris Evans incarnation. It is also yet more evidence of television’s burgeoning nostalgia rush, from TFI Friday (Evans again) on Channel 4 to BBC1’s “classic” sitcom season (Goodnight Sweetheart, anyone?) and endless children’s TV remakes, from Thunderbirds to Teletubbies. But there is more to it than that. Eighteen years after it first appeared on BBC2, the current fad for homemade tech, from hacking a circuit board to hovering a drone over your neighbour’s garden, helps give the show, made by independent producer Mentorn Scotland, a contemporary feel. “There has been so much in the air … [Read more...] about New Robot Wars: good, clean, innocent fun with giant circular saws