ACORN TV
Programming from several countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, and UK.

Sky Studios Elstree, the large-scale film and TV production facility being developed by Comcast’s European pay-TV operator Sky, sister company NBCUniversal, and finance firm Legal & General, has received the green light to proceed with construction following a decision late Wednesday by the local government, Hertsmere Borough Council. The total spend on movie and high-end TV production in the U.K. last year was £3.62 billion ($4.49 billion), a 16% annual increase, and the highest figure ever recorded.”

On-location film in Los Angeles plunged to its lowest levels on record for the second quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Overall production plunged by 97.8% to only 194 shoot days as production remained shut down from March 20 to June 15. State and county officials gave film production the green light to resume in late June, but the permitting agency noted the return to work has been “gradual and cautious.” Television slid 98.2% percent to 52 shoot days; commercials were off 95.5% to 58 days and feature film production was close to non-existent with three days.

Reacting to the coronavirus pandemic shutting down production, Bron Media is launching an animation division for series television, short-form content and motion pictures. Bron Digital announced the appointment of industry veteran Jason Chen to lead production and technology. Chen has worked on the visual effects industry on “Avatar,”  “Jojo Rabbit,” “Real Steel,” “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens,” “Bumblebee” and “Thor: Ragnarok.”

The National Association of Theatre Owners, the exhibition industry’s main lobbying arm, and major chains such as AMC and Regal targeted a critical part of the Tri-state area, suing New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy for allowing churches to reopen, but not movie theaters. Nomi Stolzenberg, a professor at USC’s Gould School of Law, argued that the theaters are piggy-backing on conservative legal theories, which are typically advanced on behalf of religious institutions, in claiming that the state is discriminating against them. She argued that the suit highlights the absurdity of that form of argument.“A world in which it makes sense for movie theaters to say they’re the victims of discrimination is a world that has lost all sense,” she said.