The Television Academy has announced its 2018 changes in membership requirements as approved by its Board of Governors.
Among the changes is the expansion of membership to include personal publicists in the Professional Representatives Peer Group, short form writers in the Writers Peer Group and colorists in the Picture Editors Peer Group.
“It’s the Television Academy’s mission to create a membership body that reflects the many diverse professions and endeavors of those working in the television industry,” said Hayma Washington, Television Academy chairman and CEO. “These membership changes are indicative of the ongoing effort to more closely represent our vision of a progressive and inclusive television community.”
New membership eligibility rules changes include:
Professional Representatives Peer Group: Active Status (voting) membership now includes personal publicists who are actively engaged in publicizing individual artists, a substantial portion of whom appear or work in nationally viewed television programming. All applicants must have at least three years experience as a personal publicist, and all requirements must be met within four years preceding their application for membership.
Writers Peer Group: Active Status (voting) membership now includes writers with credits on at least 120 minutes of professional short form programs that have had broad domestic or verifiable international consumer release. The short form programs must have an average content length of 15 minutes or less.
Picture Editors Peer Group: Active Status (voting) membership now includes Associate Producers/Post Supervisors and Colorists with a minimum of four years working on nationally exhibited content, full-time for 24 of the last 36 months.
Additional changes include:
Motion & Title Design Peer Group: Additional positions of employment have been added including Creative Director, Art Director, Animator, Compositor, Editor, Illustrator, Typographer and Creative Producer. Members must have worked a minimum of three years that includes at least three Motion & Title Design credits.
Sound Peer Group: Additional positions of employment have been added including Engineer, Monitor Mixer, Playback Mixer, Production Sound Mixer and Re-Recording Mixer. Members must have worked in these areas for at least three consecutive years or have verifiable credit on at least 25 hours of nationally exhibited programming within the past four years.
Makeup Artists/Hairstylists Peer Group: Active Status (voting) membership now requires work on at least 25 nationally exhibited episodes (previously 25 hours of programming) within a four-year period, plus a minimum of two years’ experience.
Reality Programming Peer Group: Active Status (voting) membership now requires individuals to have completed at least 26 work weeks (previously two calendar years) of reality television programming; or have at least 20 credited episodes in at least two of the previous four years.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More