Weekly Roundup: December 4 - 10, 2010

Here are snippets from this week's most interesting film-related news, including latest updates from current and past TFI projects.

Liz Shannon Miller at GigaOm's NewTeeVee compares the way New York Times and MTV's respective approaches to actor profiles during the Oscar season. Whether you prefer a more serious profile or one filled with levity, no one breaks plates more dramatically than Javier Bardem or make running away look so stylish like Anthony Mackie.

In collaboration with PBS News Hour, the Economist Magazine launched an year-long film initiative called The Economist Film Project, which will pick from a pool of completed documentary films on social issues to be showcased on the News Hour program.

Alison Wilmore at IFC.com ponders an unexpected and often overlooked casualty of the digital age: the disappearing projectionist.

Speaking of digital age, Universal Studios unveiled its $4.5-million virtual stage that includes a 40-by-80-foot "green screen," one of the largest of its kind in Hollywood, as well as a suite of editing bays and production office space.

indieWIRE named veteran film journalist Dana Harris as its newest editor-in-chief, following the departure of founder and former editor-in-chief Eugene Hernandez, who now leads digital efforts for the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Congratulations to this year's United States Artists Fellows, including TFI alums Natalie Almada, Laura Poitras, and Cherien Dabis!

With our submission process for the 2011 TFI Filmmaker Programs wrapped this week, we spoke with actor and Oscar-winning producer Fisher Stevens, whose company Insurgent Media is supporting filmmakers through the new TFI Documentary Fund.  Many thanks to everyone who submitted their projects to Tribeca All Access, TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund, TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund, Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, and TFI Documentary Fund!