Results tagged “theindustry”

At the risk of feeding the hype machine, we still have to offer a congratulations to Mr. Kanye West for pulling in some Grammy gold last night. While we still don't buy the Grammys as an accurate barometer of the music industry and what's actually, you know, good in music these days, it's still the industry's main award show so there's something to be said for coming away with multiple trophies. While the night's big winner was Amy Winehouse, Kanye still managed to pull in four awards, as well as one of the night's most memorable acceptance speeches (surprise!) when he gave producers the verbal smack-down for trying to run him off in the middle of a tribute to his mother.

We love buffalo wings. And with the recent 2nd place finish for wing-demolishing competetive eater Patrick Bertoletti at Wing Bowl, Chicago's upcoming Wingfest, a TOC article from Mike Nagrant (also featuring Bertoletti) about local wingeries, the press orgy about Melnick's uberhot wings and the general gluttony of chicken parts that will be kicking off in a few hours (there's a game on, too? who knew!), we thought it might be a good time to pay tribute to the under appreciated wing.

This year's Sundance is perhaps more important than ever, at least in the eyes of the industry. The WGA strike just might be ending soon, but studios need to start buying up indie films now so that they have plenty of stuff to release this year. One of the movies showing at Sundance was directed by Batman and shot in Gotham City.

So many movies, so little time. How true. Unless you're a professional cinephile, there's no hope of seeing even a fraction of what looks interesting in any given year. We actually tallied up the numbers and between theatrical releases, film festival screenings, and DVDs we've seen 175 movies this year — barely any at all. And with the industry's practice of backloading releases, a veritable midyear drought suddenly giving way to an avalanche of multiple releases at year's end, it's harder than ever to keep up.

Add to the preparations plan for future marathons: Hand out more maps and make sure emergency personnel use them.

It's Fashion Focus time again! Now in its third year, the six-day event will feature Chicago designers, shopping tours, fashion business seminars and will generally kick ass. The success of the event in the past few years has caught the attention of high-profile designers and attracted the industry to a city that has often been regarded as pretty low on the fashion totem pole. A quick survey of the streets on an average day might...

This is part of Chicagoist's continuing coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival. A sobering statistic from Chicago filmmaker Darryl Robert's new documentary America the Beautiful: Although the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world's population, its residents are exposed to 40% of its advertising. Roberts argues that one major effect of that hypersaturation is an obsession with a certain kind of "perfect beauty," an unrealistic ideal that leaves many women feeling unhappy with...

Now that we’ve recovered from the sugar crash, we can tell you about some of the things we found during our visit yesterday to the National Confectioners Association’s All Candy Expo at McCormick Place, which ends tomorrow. The industry-only event draws 20,000 visitors to town to sample over 2,000 gums, candies, and snack foods. New products and trends within the industry are also unveiled with all the accompanying sizzle to prospective retailers and wholesalers. The...

September is one of our favorite months of the year, in that there are so many things still happening for the benefit of those of us who refuse to accept our parents' notion that summer in Chicago ends on Labor Day. September brings us the Hideout Block Party, World Music Festival, and the beginning of many Oktoberfest celebrations.

As an occasional peruser of adult entertainment (NSFW), Chicagoist couldn't resist watching Ron "The Hedgehog" Jeremy debate Pastor Craig Gross about pornography last night at the Lakeshore Theater. As pastor of the XXXChurch, Gross has been on a mission for the last five years. A mission not to eradicate pornography ("I don't want to shut down porn," says Pastor Craig), but to help people overcome what they consider a problem, like alcohol, drugs, or gambling....

Chicagoist (this one, anyway) doesn't fancy ourself to be a music critic. We sometimes think the years we spent working "in the industry" may have caused us to prefer to keep our distance to avoid ruining all of our fun. But we do love music, obsessively so, and have been known to traipse all over the continent proving that fact. So when an internationally renowned music festival shows up in our backyard, there's not much...

Had a good chuckle this morning reading the Sun-Times. Smack dab in the middle of page 3 was this AP article detailing PepsiCo's announcement that their popular Aquafina bottled water - the most popular bottled water brand in the nation - will literally spell out on the label that the water contained within is filtered from a public source, rather than the somewhat cryptic "p.w.s." that's currently on the label. Show of hands if you didn't know that.

In 1907 Essanay Studios shot a short slapstick film on the streets of Old Town entitled An Awful Skate. It cost a few hundred dollars but went on to make thousands; perhaps as much as $10,000 (which, adjusted for inflation, would be about $216,000 today). A recent profile in the Trib gives a brief history of the once-booming studio, which had facilities in both Chicago and California. Between 1907 and 1917 Essanay churned out...

It's only July, one year out, and already it feels like there is a presidential race going on, doesn't it? Maybe it's too soon to declare Bush a lame duck, but we're inclined to think he is. In this most early of seasons, much has been made of fund raising, often at the expense of real discussions of the issues. Obama is setting records, regularly pulling in millions of dollars in small sums, Hillary is...

The National Restaurant Association trade show (we'll just call them the "good NRA") is still in full swing through tomorrow at McCormick Place. We went this weekend, took in some of the exhibits, marveled still at the sheer enormity of McCormick Place, and got enough Cholula samples to last us through the summer, or at least the next bloody mary, and our clothes reek of fried food.

The big event happening this weekend is the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at McCormick Place. The event features over 2,000 exhibitors in nearly 900 product categories showcasing the latest kitchen innovations and technology, sustainability concepts, and fine cuisine. Highlights of the show this year include a celebrity bookstore (a new feature where celebrity chefs and restaurateurs will be in attendance signing books) a food fair featuring regional specialty foods from across the country,...

Now that the Super Bowl is finally over, we can at last turn our attention to things which are truly important ... like The Oscars. Really we wanted to talk to you about this last week, but a hunch told us that it just wouldn't register. The Oscars are now less than three weeks away. Speculation is flying fast and furious. Maureen Ryan at the Trib is whining about how Hollywood "seems to have gone...

Women haven't exactly taken over Capitol Hill, but there are now more women in Congress than ever. And at the risk of stating the obvious, Hillary is basically the first-ever serious contender for the White House. But things in the film industry couldn't be more different.

Way back in 2005 we told you about Crime Fiction, a movie made by students of the University of Chicago. When we last heard from them they were in the midst of post-production. Far from being the last step in the filmmaking process, post-production is merely the end of the beginning; for as any indie filmmaker will tell you, once you've "finished" your film the wheels of the industry can turn very very slowly when...

As we tucked into yesterday’s new batch of comics (Solomon Grundy vs. The JLA!), we were reminded that two local podcasts help us to get our fix of comics, regardless of the day of the week.

If you’re a local musician and you’re not already taking advantage of the Musicians at Work forums offered through the Chicago Music Commission, Chicagoist recommends you start this Monday with “Marketing Music – Part I: DIY Reaching the Public.” And not just because one of our writers will be speaking there. Thanks to MySpace, podcasts and e-mail, it’s easier and less expensive than ever to market your band. Yet technology is only as good as...

Moto’s Chef Homaro Cantu has invented an edible paper on which he prints his menus using organic inks and a Canon printer. OK, that’s a little off the wall, but we’ll believe it. After all, Chicago’s stock as an experimental culinary destination has been on the rise as of late. What makes Cantu’s paper, and many of his other gastronomical creations, different is the fact that he is applying to have them patented. He even goes so far as to print the following legal jargon on his tasty paper: Confidential Property of and © H. Cantu. Patent Pending. No further use or disclosure is permitted without prior approval of H. Cantu.

Just to show you that we do read the "tips" section of the Labs, then do some research into the subject, Roast Magazine, a bi-monthly trade magazine "dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee roaster", recently awarded their 2007 "Roaster of the Year" Awards to two local institutions.

It's a deregulation bonanza for utility companies in the Chicago area this year. Last week AT&T was handed an early Christmas present by the Illinois Commerce Commission when they were given the freedom to set their own prices for local phone service. And while we're still fretting about the thought of our phone bill doubling over the next three years, we get to face the specter of unregulated electricity rates from ComEd. We've seen this one coming since January, when the ICC approved an auction system for setting wholesale electricity prices to take effect in 2007, but as the new year approaches, details of this bitch-slapping by the free market are becoming clearer.

The Like Young announced its breakup Sunday in a post on its website and in a press release from its label Polyvinyl Records yesterday. The band was four years old.

Yesterday we found out that one of the most high-profile conventions held in Chicago agreed to stay in the city, which is great news. The news got even better today after a press conference revealed that the NRA (delicious food-making restaurants, not guns) extended its contract with Chicago for another five years, an unprecedented agreement.

Now in its fifth year, Columbia College’s Manifest Urban Arts Festival has grown larger than most of us could ever have imagined. Then again, it's run by arts students. Their imaginations are larger than most. We’re sure someone’s done a study to prove it. Manifest is an arts festival good enough to rival any summer street fair and a graduation party large enough to make students from more conventional schools jealous. We’ve already told you...

The Rebirth of Englewood Community Development Corporation is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by US Congressman Bobby Rush to encourage community and economic development in the Englewood neighborhood. Back in 2003, telecom giant SBC’s foundation* gave a $1 million grant to the organization to help establish the Bobby L. Rush Center for Community Technology, which would allow training and business development for the community. It all sounds so great, right? An example of corporate...

It's that time of year again: the James Beard Foundation's nominees have been announced and, not surprisingly, Chicago represents. And it represents well. The James Beard is the most coveted prize for culinary professionals, and for those who are both nominated and those who eventually go home with the prize come May, this achievement will follow them for the rest of their dying days. For those not of All-Things-Food, being nominated for a James Beard...

With such a proliferation of food- and cooking-focused blogs and web sites out there, some days it's all Chicagoist can do to get to a handful of them to keep up. However, as is the case with the industry itself, the more the merrier. So in the same way we're always stoked to find a new approach to duck breast, we're equally as happy to find a blog with a different twist.