Government Stuff
New Treasury analysis suggests that the government’s Film & TV Production Restart Scheme has protected almost 20,000 jobs.
‘Buy now, pay later’ firms like Klarna are to face stricter controls by the Financial Conduct Authority following a campaign.
The Gambling Commission has announced a package of strict measures to make online slots games safer by design.
The £2.6 billion scheme to roll out superfast broadband to ‘commercially unviable’ (rude) parts of the UK has seen home values jump by £3,500.
Event venues can apply now for a share of a £200,000 fund helping them access full fibre broadband. I miss events.
Elton John met with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden this week to discuss how wonderful life is, when you’re touring the world (visa-free).
YouTube, Twitch and SoundCloud are up next in the DCMS Committee grilling on streaming, facing MPs on Wednesday.
It was DCMS’ turn at the despatch box for parliamentary questions this week. Here’s the highlights.
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Culture Stuff
Arts & Culture
Research commissioned by the Mayor of London outlines how more than 26,000 jobs in arts and culture in the capital are at risk. Jeez.
More than 100 UK arts organisations will receive a share of £30m of recovery grants from the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Creative PEC with new research on how the cultural industries can increase the adoption of immersive technologies for mainstream audiences.
Google Arts & Culture has turned 10. OMG HB GA&C!
The Art Newspaper on how postgrad art history students are being encouraged to produce ‘less rigorous and ambitious’ research. I’m actually an expert in this field.
A Botticelli has sold for $92.1m at Sotheby's in New York to a Russian buyer - a record for the artist and auction house. Botticelli? More like Botta-loada-mon… I’m just gonna leave it.
Design
International architecture firm NBBJ has designed a swirly-whirly glass tower covered in trees and walking trails for Amazon’s second HQ.
The Only Fools and Horses bunch are being turned into stamps by the Royal Mail to mark their big 4-0. Cushti.
This is actually a great idea for people with disabilities. Nike has designed a ‘hands-free trainer’ that you can slip on without bending down.
A lunchtime long read from The Guardian on how London’s high-speed, turbocharged Nine Elms regeneration project is now in more like third gear.
Theatre & Dance
A new report from PiPA has warned that the performing arts are at risk of losing decades of progress towards gender equality without urgent action.
Four British writers have been shortlisted for Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for female, transgender and non-binary playwrights.
Theatres Trust has announced its 2021 Theatres at Risk Register of culturally significant theatres under threat.
The Murray Melvin Archive, documenting the story of the Theatre Royal Stratford East from 1884 to 2017, has been donated to the British Library.
The Guardian pulls back the imaginary curtain on the lockdown boom in audio plays.
Classical Music & Opera
Classical music streaming service Primephonic has just announced Maestro: an in-app listening guide offering step-by-step ‘walkthroughs’ of classic works.
Tourism & Heritage
A 4-year-old girl has discovered a 220-million-year-old dinosaur footprint at Bendrick’s Bay, Wales. Rawr.
And talking of discoveries! My word! A metal detecting enthusiast has stumbled across the missing centrepiece of Henry VIII’s crown, worth about £2m.
We’ll have to rename this the Discovery Channel I guess! (needs work) Bronze age graves and Neolithic pottery at the site of the proposed Stonehenge tunnel.
Museums
Dun, dun, DUH. The Art Newspaper on how LA’s Getty Museum was warned by experts that a newly-purchased Gauguin was TOTALLY FAKE. Forgetty about it!
Books, Press & Libraries
The Welsh government has announced the National Library of Wales is to receive a £2.25m rescue package.
Here’s The Guardian with its pick of the 10 best debut novelists of 2021.
Exhibitions and Events
Damien Hirst’s Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable work is set to go on show beside Galleria Borghese's classic works in Rome later this year.
Vanity Fair with its pick of the best online art exhibitions to peruse from the sofa in your dressing gown.
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TIGA has released a new report showing that increasing Video Games Tax Relief from 25 to 32% could result in nearly 1,500 more development staff by 2025.
The Lady from the Black Lagoon is out now, uncovering the life and works of Milicent Patrick – movie monster creator and one of Disney’s first female animators.
The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast is BACK for 2021, kicking off with a two-parter with industry shaker-upper Kevin O’Neill (he’s banned by America’s Comic Codes Authority I hear)
Rebellion on how they’ve aimed to design the new Evil Genius 2 with accessibility at the front of their minds.
TIGA has also written to the government calling for continued funding for post-16 qualifications which are vital for the video games industry.
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Creative Industries & Tech Stuff
Film & TV
Despite the pandemic, money spent on film and TV production in the UK was only down 21% in 2020, according to BFI figures.
A quarter of the Golden Globe nominations this year have gone to us plucky Brits, three women are up for best director for the first time… but Michaela Coel has ludicrously been snubbed.
She has however been shortlisted for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, led by Schitt’s Creek and The Crown.
Ofcom has revoked Chinese state-owned TV channel CGTN of its broadcast licence in UK.
All 4 achieved its biggest ever month of streaming in January, led by brilliant new drama It’s A Sin.
Together TV is launching a diverse film fund next month, supporting five emerging filmmakers to make 10-minute documentaries on Black British lives.
THIS IS THE FINAL STRAW!!! Britain’s Got Talent has been cancelled because of the bug.
Daisy Ridley and Dizzee Rascal are going to be on the next series of Celebrity Bake Off. Dizzee, why is your Victoria Sponge all lemony? Oh no! Mix Up, Tastes Sharp!
Fashion
ASOS is buying Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge for £330m… but their 70 stores, employing 2,500 people, aren’t included.
Music & Radio
Sony Music is buying AWAL and Kobalt Neighbouring Rights for a cool $430m.
Just thinking out loud here but pretty sure The Other Ed gave over £28m to the taxman last year.
Spotify increased its premium subscriber base by 24% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2020.
Coachella over in the States has been cancelled due to the bug, too. No-chella.
PRS For Music has withdrawn its online tariff for small-scale events in cases where a songwriter is performing their own work.
Taylor Swift is being sued by a theme park that shares the same name as her album, Chessington World of Adventures.
(Sorry, just reread the above and it’s actually Evermore in Utah. Really sorry about that).
Gaming
Google Stadia has closed its in-house game development studio. The Verge digs into why the writing could be on the wall for the console launched in 2019.
Embracer Group has snapped up Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment in a $1.3bn deal.
Tech & Telecoms
Huge. After founding it in his garage 30 years ago, Jeff Bezos is stepping down as chief exec of Amazon just as the company reports its first ever $100bn quarter.
Google parent company Alphabet also saw record revenues for the second straight quarter.
EE, but mainly Kevin Bacon, are giving housebound pupils unlimited data.
Robotic process automation platform UiPath has hit a $35bn valuation after a $750m funding round – making it by far Europe’s largest private tech company.
Online card company Moonpig had a solid start as a listed company this week, seeing its value soar to £1.2bn.
Facebook’s Nick Clegg writes for the Business Insider on why Europe banning companies from collecting user data would be a ‘serious miscalculation’.
Apple has figured out how to make Face ID work whilst wearing a mask… but you need an Apple Watch. Oh, that’s convenient.
New report from Cultivate helping companies understand digital culture.
The 2021 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has gone to five pioneers in the creation of LED lighting.
Good read from Fast Company on how scale-ups are the powerhouses of the US economy.
Bebo is coming BACK and, I've done the maths, and you’re all in my top 16!!!
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Appointments & Movers
Sir Peter Bazalgette has been appointed as pro-chancellor of the Royal College of Art; Amazon’s next chief exec will be Andy Jassy – boss of its cloud computing arm; George Osborne is leaving the Evening Standard; James Pidgeon has been named executive director of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Ansel Wong has been named as chair of the Black Cultural Archives; RIBA has appointed Marsha Ramroop as its first director of inclusion and diversity; Lila Ibrahim and Adrian Joseph have joined the UK AI Council; Love Island star and doctor Alex George is the Prime Minister’s new Ambassador for Mental Health; The Guardian has appointed Merope Mills as editor of its new Saturday magazine; the board of social media platform Parler has fired chief exec John Matze; Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway is stepping down from Artistic Directors of the Future which she founded in 2014
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Ed Stuff
Co-wrote a piece in the Evening Standard with Anna-Sophie Harling of Newsguard on why online harms legislation is a golden opportunity to curb disinformation.
Gave a ‘fabulous speech’ (his words) on the National Security & Investment Bill.
Also popped up in the Lords talking on the Telecoms Infrastructure Leasehold Property Bill - and asked the government for a visa-waiver scheme for musicians.
And an appearance on Politics Live too. Wow, what a week.
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...And Finally
An American toddler is set to release the world’s first ever album made from sounds recorded in the womb. Fave rapper? Thanks for asking. It’s Bay-B.
Order, order. Have you caught up on this Handforth Parish Council Planning & Environment Committee meeting yet? Watch it or else, like Jackie Weaver, I WILL REMOVE YOU.
Scientists have taught spinach to send emails. I got one earlier actually: “lol, we shrink so much in the pan just to wind you up” I didn’t reply.
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